Posted on 07/16/2015 9:05:01 AM PDT by Kaslin
Maybe this was more of a Rorschach test than first thought. When a reporter asks a tough question of a president, many of the people who get upset at the “tone” and who cheer for the reporter switch sides when the party affiliation of the President changes. So far, though, only Bill Maher has managed to toss race in as an issue with Major Garrett’s sharp exchange with Barack Obama yesterday:
#MajorGarrett is a huge asshole. If U wanna "strike a nerve" with POTUS, why not just scream the N word? That shld get his attention.
— Bill Maher (@billmaher) July 16, 2015
Liberal HBO “Real Time” host Bill Maher took offense to a CBS White House reporter who on Wednesday admitted to intentionally provokingPresident Obama with a question about Iran.
“Major Garrett is a huge a–hole,” Maher wrote late Wednesday in a message to his 3 million-plus followers on Twitter.
Maher suggested Garrett’s interaction with the president had a racial element to it. “If you wanna ‘strike a nerve’ with [Obama], why not just scream the N word?” Maher’s tweet continued. “That should get his attention.”
It’s interesting that Maher didn’t actually use @MajorCBS in the tweet. If Maher really wanted to send a message, why not actually send it into Garrett’s mentions column? Why hashtag the name instead?
On top of that, it’s a little odd to see someone like Maher object to a tough question for a President, even one calculated for provocation, as Garrett himself admits was his intent. Isn’t that what Maher does for a living with his guests? It’s been a very long while since I’ve bothered to watch Real Time, but Maher’s entire schtick is provocation, both of his on-set guests and cheap-shot jokes at people who aren’t there. As Erik Wemple noted in his defense of Garrett, the framing of the question was provocative but the subject matter was “a critical matter” on which Obama had not been challenged. If Obama had been Republican, one can imagine a much different reaction from Maher.
Furthermore, Chris Cillizza argues, it was apparent by that point in the presser that the reporters were being used as window dressing by Obama:
In truth, Obama had very little interest in engaging the press and their questions Wednesday. Instead, he wanted to use them as a prop to get out his talking points and answer his growing chorus of critics on the Iran deal. …
So, when the president chooses to give a press conference, the expectation is that he will, you know, answer questions. That’s not really what he did Wednesday. Instead, he used the edifice of what looked and sort of sounded like a press conference to dismiss critics and ensure that his case was made by the person he believes is the best messenger for it: himself.
This was a speech on Iran that reporters attended. That’s not the reporters’ fault — they can only do so much if the president is determined to filibuster every question and go on at length (and then some). And it’s a near-certainty that Obama could care less what the media thinks of him at this stage of his presidency. (He likely never much cared.)
Still, what he did Wednesday was something well short of an open back and forth between the leader of the country and the fourth estate. You might not care. But you should.
Again, one wonders why a media figure like Maher thinks asking a tough question of a President determined to avoid them is not just assholery but also racist. Golly, I can’t wait for a Republican to be president so that dissent can once more be patriotic, and the media can suddenly feel the need to hold the powerful accountable again.
Ace nailed the Maher angle long before Maher even tweeted it out:
same media that had vaginal-not-clitoral orgasms about Iraqi reporter throwing a shoe at Bush pretty sure now Major Garrett is racist
— TheUltraYachtLife (@AceofSpadesHQ) July 15, 2015
Perhaps this is more of a hack test than a Rorschach test.
idiot libs
Alright Bill..you’re “N” a-hole.
So what was the question zero was asked?
Maher should answer the question for the President instead of being a racist playing the race card.
Bump
Why not indeed.
They didn’t even put their own reporters question and Bambi’s bumbling answer on their evening news last night..
To these libs, any criticism or even QUESTIONING of a black (make it half-black) politician is racist. That’s the only argument they have.
The advance of micro-aggression.
Get the impression that they didn't even consider the hostages in the negotiations.
Anyway, Obama acted offended at the question.
Are there any other kind?
That sounds suspiciously like racism.
Thank you, Mr. President. As you well know, there are four Americans in Iran, three held on trumped-up charges that, according to your administration, one whereabouts unknown. Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content, with all the fanfare around this deal, to leave the conscience of this nation, the strength of this nation, unaccounted for in relation to these four Americans? And last week, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said under no circumstances should there be any relief for Iran in terms of ballistic missiles or conventional weapons. It is perceived that was a last-minute capitulation in these negotiations. Many in the Pentagon feel you’ve left the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff high out to dry. Could you comment?
Long-winded, and provocative, but still deserving an answer.
Basically “Why weren’t the 4 Americans being held in inran part of the deal?” Wrong tone apparently Major. The lyin’ king had to remind him that he “should know better” than to ask questions like that. How that equates to screaming the “n” word at him is lost on me. Of course I’m not as nuanced as mr. maher.
Saw this some where in regard to Jenner but suppose it goes for OBozo too.
“If Obozo was missing would his picture be on a carton of Half & Half”
Who’s Bill Maher?
/s
An example of how dedicated the libtards and Leftists are of protecting their own regardless of national security. Questions for the Right are praised as courageous and patriotic, but similar questions for the Left are racist, absurd, mean, etc.
Rule #1 for press under Obama: “Must not ask Obama any hard questions.” Apparently the MSM feels it must protect Obama because he is a minority and incapable of intellectually answering hard questions.
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