Remember Bush's response to 2001 Shoe Bomber Attack?

There wasn't any, but don't tell Ed Henry.

But on other hand, I think Peter King raises a fair point about the fact that in a crisis, and here we had a situation where over 200 people could have been and came close to being killed on Christmas Day, that is normally something where you expect the president of the United States to step forward and reassure the public.

I know from covering George W. Bush, he certainly would have been out there. This White House pushes back on that pretty hard, saying, they have a much different style from the past administration. That was certainly fought out in the campaign. It is a different approach.

Via the hard work and googling of jethropalerobber and other DKos netizens, we find the first and looks like only reference by GWB on Reid.-

Bush did in fact reference the shoe bomber incident during the course of a press Q&A outside a diner in Crawford on December 31. Famed soft profiler Elisabeth Bumiller records Bush's comment in paragraph 7 of this piece:

Mr. Bush, in his last question-and-answer session with reporters in 2001, also said that the main task of the F.B.I. was now to protect Americans from further attacks.

''The whole culture of the F.B.I. has changed for the better,'' Mr. Bush said. He added that the country as a whole was ''on alert'' and praised the flight attendant on an American Airlines flight on Dec. 22 who noticed the man whom Mr. Bush called ''the shoe bomber,'' Richard C. Reid, trying to light a fuse in his sneaker.

NYT 01/01/2002

There's a couple phrases that come to mind- willful ignorance and double standard.

Video- CNN Interview With Joe Biden

VIDEO: Robert Gibbs spars with CNN's Ed Henry over public option

By GottaLaff

Earlier I posted a liveblog of Robert Gibbs sparring with Ed Henry over the public option.

Here's the video:



The apparent difference between what Gibbs claims President Obama was saying then vs. now: The public option was "essential"... now it's "preferred".

VIDEO: Ed Henry Schools the White House Press Corps

By GottaLaff

Awesome: President Obama Tweets with his mind. He's not just good. He's real good:

The White House Press Corps is completely out of control and Ed Henry is pissed.

The Full Ginsburg does it again.

VIDEO: President Obama smacks down Ed Henry at press conference

By GottaLaff

Here is that golden moment-- "I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak." How novel. Maybe some of the press corp should try it some time:


Savor it. Cherish it. Point and laugh at Ed Henry.

Robert Gibbs Responds To Cheney's Criticism: 'I Guess Rush Limbaugh Was Busy.'

Snap!!

AUDIO: Rush Limbaugh to CNN's Ed Henry: "Ed, you're a butt-boy."

By GottaLaff



This uncouth fool is the leader of the Rushpublican party:

Rush Limbaugh says he's "exploding with reaction" at this phrase, "the president has spoken a lot about bringing the country together," in a question from CNN's Ed Henry at today's daily press briefing at the White House. "Ed, you're a butt boy" follows.

He goes on to praise Jake Tapper. The audio opens with this:

"The White House is encouraging reporters to stay focused on me."

Damn right they are, Limpdong. They're milking this for all it's worth.

New president, new questioners: Meet the (new) press

By GottaLaff

Because the media snuggled up with Little Georgie Bush for so long, my money is on the "new" press overcompensating and making every attempt to nail Obama as often and as hard as they can. Key word: Overcompensating:

When incoming press secretary Robert Gibbs approaches the podium in the White House Briefing Room, a new cast of notebook-clutching, laptop-tapping reporters will be there to greet him as the five biggest news networks are all switching up their chief White House correspondents to cover the 44th president.

The new faces will be Chuck Todd (NBC), Jake Tapper (ABC), Chip Reid (CBS) and Ed Henry (CNN). Although Fox News hasn’t named a replacement for Bret Baier — who just took over “Special Report” — the betting money in Washington is on correspondent Major Garrett, who covered the Obama campaign. While all the correspondents played significant roles during the 2008 election, their White House experience varies from several years to none at all.

With surveys showing the public believes Barack Obama received easier coverage during the campaign, coupled with lingering criticism of how the White House press corps dropped the ball as the Bush administration made the case for invading Iraq, the incoming group has a few hurdles to overcome.

Overall, it's not a bad team. But I have this nagging suspicion that they'll feel obligated to be more aggressive, whether it's warranted or not. I may be wrong, it's just a gut feeling.

Not that tough questions are a bad thing, far from it. I'd just hate to see gratuitous gotchas rather than fair, dispassionate, and thoughtful journalism.

This quote from Ed Henry was somewhat reassuring:

Asked about the perception that Obama has had easy treatment from the press so far, Henry warns against overcompensating: “We can’t turn every nit-picky thing into Watergate.”

Thank you.

For background on each of the reporters, go here.

CNN's Ed Henry Hit with Gum at Gramm-pa McCain Rally

By GottaLaff

Ed Henry is one of the more visible members of CNN's TBPNTOTV!!! in my Sunday posts. I snark at them relentlessly, but I don't think any one of them deserves this:

As Republican congressional candidate Keith Fimian warmed up the crowd at an afternoon rally with Sen. John McCain, CNN's Ed Henry was co-anchoring his network's weekend political coverage live from the press risers. Fimian was speaking about his personal accomplishments as Henry quizzed Bill Schneider, who was standing at another camera position at the rally.

A woman towards the back of the crowd angrily turned back and started yelling at Henry, asking him to stop talking during Fimian's speech. The woman grew so angry that she threw a pack of Dentyne Ice gum at Henry, which hit his back as he wrapped up his conversation with Schneider.

Henry finished his live shot and turned in the direction of the woman, who gave him the cut sign across her throat. Henry turned back, bent over to pick up the pack of gum, shrugged and shook his head as he tossed it to his producer.

Her anger might have had something to do with another unfortunate bit of timing -- an earlier live shot of Henry's had started just as the crowd of thousands began reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.

It's way, way past time for Gramm-pa McCain to rein in his reptilian little gangsters. Between the hate speech and the violence, he and his Merry Band-O'-Thugs are well on their way to leaving a legacy of nothing but offensive behavior and brutality.

Grammps' reputation has already suffered immensely. He should have publicly put an end to these reprehensible acts, and has been called on to do so.

But he hasn't, and he won't. The P.O.W. powerhouse he so incessantly forces on us and so lovingly crafted is disintegrating. He's stuck with a quickly-(d)evolving loathsome image of his own making.