Media “troubled” by Obama campaign’s secret meeting with Clinton
This past Thursday evening, Barak Obama wanted to have a meeting with Hillary Clinton and he wanted to do so without any pesky reporters bugging him. Members of his campaign reportedly got all of the reporters traveling with the Senator to board the campaign jet and then had the plane take off without Obama on board, effectively detaining the reporters while Obama had his meeting.
The Washington bureau chiefs from FOX News, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and CNN, along with the acting bureau chief from The Associated Press, penned a joint letter of protest Friday to Obama’s campaign manager and chief spokesman.
Brian Wilson, FOX News’ Washington bureau chief, described the missive as “strongly worded” and said it addresses the actions of the Obama campaign as “troubling.”
The letter was not made public, but Wilson said it complains that campaign officials declined to reveal Obama’s whereabouts despite objections from the press corps as they were about to take off for Chicago.
The letter details three instances in which the bureau chiefs felt their reporters were misled by the campaign. The letter also suggests that the news organizations — which pay thousands for their reporters to fly on the private jets of candidates — will review whether to decline to reimburse the Obama campaign for the Thursday flight.
I have an open question to the media on this one: do you think your prophet of change candidate will get better about things like this if he’s elected or worse? And to the rest of my fellow Americans – particularly those who are actually considering electing him to the Presidency – if he’ll pull a stunt like this on reporters whose job it is to stay as informed on his actions as possible, how much thought do you think he’ll put into not doing the same thing to you, who are just one of the little people he need never actually face?
If Obama wants to meet with someone without the press taking pictures and recording every word, he should simply say so and hold the closed meeting. That’s what adult professionals would do. Instead, he pulls some grade-school “Hey look over there!” deception so he could… what? Have a meeting in private? Weak, really weak.
Comments
Comment from John
Time June 11, 2008 at 11:55
This post is kinda silly if you ask me. They wanted some privacy. If they knew the details about Hillary and Obama meeting, nothing would have gotten done. Neither Hillary nor Obama did anything wrong in this case. This isn’t newsworthy. You should write about the Iraq intelligence report and Bush’s deliberate deception, which is costing thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. THAT is newsworthy.
Comment from Ric James
Time June 11, 2008 at 13:46
Wylie, where have you been for the past 7 years? Or do you not recall the endless chafing over Dick Cheney’s meetings with people who weren’t immediate trotted out for press conferences?
On top of that, you missed the point of the complaint. It’s not that the media had the problem with the secret meeting – or not so much, anyway – it’s that their employees (the reporters) were herded onto an aircraft and literally launched into the air to keep them from trying to find out what was going on. The campaign held them virtually captive during the 2 hour flight to Chicago. That’s the primary complaint.
My complaint is that Obama’s campaign sees nothing wrong with that I find that ethically problematic. I consider that to be an indicator of things to come should be be elected and I think that’s something people should think about.
Pingback from You asked for it, John. Let’s talk about the Senate Committee on Intelligence report and “Bush’s deliberate deception.” « HoodaThunk?
Time June 11, 2008 at 14:43
[...] You asked for it, John. Let’s talk about the Senate Committee on Intelligence report and “Bush’s deliberate deception.” Over 5 years into the Iraqi theater of the war on terror and still there a people who insist on clinging to a fantasy instead of facing the facts behind our entry into it. From the comments section on a post I did on the Obama campaign’s decision to trick the reporters covering the Dem nomination…: [...]
Comment from Al from NJ
Time June 12, 2008 at 09:17
The reason Clinton supporters will not vote for Obama is because they are embarrassed of him, his life, his unfair tactics and his beliefs. And they still don’t know all about him.
They don’t want a candidate that has been in a twenty year relationship with Reverend Wright and the Trinity United Church of Christ.
They don’t’ want a candidate that has a twenty year relationship with Father Pflaeger as his compass in life
They don’t want a candidate that went to a church that supports Louis Farrakhan, an anti Semitic racist.
They don’t want to defend Black Liberation theology.
They don’t want a candidate that lies about his relationship with Tony Rezko, the Syrian Criminal that sold his property to Obama and supported his campaign.
They don’t want a candidate that could work with a domestic terrorist, William Ayers.
They don’t’ want a candidate that didn’t stand up for the voters of Michigan and Florida.
They don’t want a candidate that Hamas supports.
They don’t want a candidate that Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam support
They don’t want a candidate that has a wife that has just now realized she was proud of our country.
They don’t want a candidate that denies Florida and Michigan their voices
They don’t want a candidate that mentions 57 states in his speeches. 50 states in the USA and 57 states in the Nation of Islam (IOC website)
They don’t want a candidate that fights unfair and steals Michigan delegate votes from his opponent.
They don’t want a candidate that feels sorry to leave a church that is anti American and that preaches hatred and racial views that are cruel and nasty.
They don’t want a candidate that is inexperienced.
They don’t want a candidate that considers it a loss to not to be able to attend his anti American, racist Church.
They don’t want a candidate that has a Muslim father.
They don’t’ want a candidate that can’t win a debate
They don’t’ want a candidate that misleads the youth with an ‘Obama girl and her behind in their face”
They don’t want a candidate that says he’s an African American and missed the MLK Remembrance Day and the Louisiana Black Caucus meeting
They don’t want a candidate that has done nothing for humanity except talk about it.
They don’t’ want a candidate named; Barack Hussein Obama
He scares them to death.
He is embarrassing.
He is unelectable.
Comment from Wylie Wiliams
Time June 7, 2008 at 10:30
Why did we never see strongly worded letters to Bush, Cheney, Rove, et al, from FOX News, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News and CNN regarding their objections to the secrecy of the Bush administration?