Video- Robert Gibbs whumps Les Kinsolving on definition of "press conference"

Video- Robert Gibbs on press corps, tv show briefings

Yes Robert, that's a dead giveaway.

Robert Gibbs' unemployment forecast

By GottaLaff

Robert Gibbs:

"We're gonna see job loss for many, many months."

But that is to be expected, as President Obama has told us over and over. And economists have echoed that. Unfortunately, it's a quote that's not easy to hear.

Tidbit:

As Gibbs left the briefing room, someone asked quickly, "Is he going to church this weekend?" to which Gibbs responded that he didn't know.

Then the room broke out in mock questions, yelling loudly and snarkily, "Where is he going to church?!" and other ad-libs. Laughter broke out as CSPAN cut to a promo.

Robert Gibbs v. Helen Thomas on torture

By GottaLaff

I tried to catch what I could in this exchange between Helen Thomas and Robert Gibbs at the daily briefing. Most of this is verbatim, but unfortunately, not complete. However, the gist of it is represented accurately:

Helen: "Never look back"? What is this??

Gibbs: Let's not conflate his position on a commission with Webster's definition of history.

Helen, there are important things that face this country right now. We don't doubt that we can learn from history. There are crises [happening right now] [he lists them].

Helen protests strongly: Nobody should pay any price for the horror we've gotten into...? [the rest was hard to hear, as was most of what she said

Gibbs: It's important to understand, Helen, first and foremost to change the policy of this country. History will be left up to historians. The most important step that was taken in all of this debate was to end, once and for all, end the interrogation techniques.

[Torture] won't happen on President Obama's watch.

I loved Helen's questions (what I could hear, that is). I'm not as enthusiastic about Gibbs' answers, if you can call them that.

Quickie: The White House gets it; Si se puede!

By GottaLaff

Today's Quickie:

A smart, politically savvy White House Daily Briefing first: A Spanish-speaking briefer is delivering the news from the podium about President Obama's policies on Cuba.

Imagine that: Communicating to the Spanish-speaking community in Spanish.

That was today's Quickie. Was it good for you?

Full White House Press Briefing: 4/9/09

Every once and awhile the White House puts these up and they're kinda fun.

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: Press Secretary Robert Gibbs addresses Jon Stewart v. Jim Cramer

By GottaLaff

I got nearly every word verbatim:

Q: [Last night's interview of Jim Cramer by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show] was a serious piece of journalism. Should journalism call out lies...?

Gibbs: I don't know if the president has seen it. I enjoyed it thoroughly. [laughter] Despite that it may have been, as Jon Stewart said, uncomfortable to conduct and uncomfortable to watch, I thought he asked a lot of tough questions and I'm not surprised if the video doesn't appear on CNBC's website today.

We enjoyed it thoroughly too.

UPDATE: Video added, reflected in blog title.

VIDEO-- Chip Reid: "Democrats Raising Their Ugly Heads"

By GottaLaff

No media bias here. None. Nah:

And the rest of the press corps sort of laughed incredulously at Reid because a) it was idiotic, b) they knew that pretty soon, everyone would be talking about how "Chip Reid never mentioned how ugly some of the Republican heads are...

At the Daily White House Press Briefing CBS's Chip Reid starts a question with the following "Democrats Raising Their Ugly Heads"

Maybe Chip shouldn't have raised his ugly head, er, hand today. This one's all over the Blogosphere.

Quote-O'-The-Day: Gibbs v. White House press corps edition

By GottaLaff

I just saw this on the Tee Vee Machine. He got a good laugh:

"Don't take my word for it. You rarely do anyway."
--Robert Gibbs to the White House press corps at White House daily briefing.

Robert Gibbs hammered by questions about economy

By GottaLaff

Paraphrasing Robert Gibbs at the White House briefing just now, when asked if President Obama is taking on too much at once:

"If a house was on fire, would you choose which rooms to put out first, or would you try to save the whole house? 'Nah, I like the living room. Put that out.'"

Meantime, Chris Cillizza has been Tweeting over and over about questions regarding Warren Buffett's statements:

More Buffett and more Buffett-dodging by Gibbs. Impossible for him to distance from Buffett but doesn't want to anger the "oracle" either.

Buffett comments have gotten WH off track...they don't want to answer a series of questions about the economy falling off a cliff.

MUST SEE VIDEO: Daily Show meets WH press corps, with special guest appearance by Helen Thomas

By GottaLaff

Only The Daily Show can get away with this stuff. Pay special attention to the question asked of Chip Reid, and how he responds. Honestly, do these people even bother to listen? Helen Thomas sure did. Snerk! Enjoy:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

White House Press Corps

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Tweeting from Robert Gibbs' White House presser

By GottaLaff

Tweet, tweet! Tuh-weet. I'll keep updating:

Gibbs: The deficit is the responsibility of everyone.

Tweets from Chris Cillizza:

[Each of these is a new Tweet] "You will hear him begin the discussion of restoring a sense of fiscal responsibility" -- Gibbs on Obama for tomorrow's speech....

Gibbs NEVER gets ahead of where the president is going to be. NEVER!...

So now we are calling the former Fed Chair "Greenspan". Didn't a kid at Texas Tech get in trouble for calling the General "knight"?

You will see the president making hard choices, some specific cuts..." Gibbs talking in general specifics about Obama speech tomorrow.

LOVE that CNN keeps the crawl going during the presser...did you know Andy Roddick just won a tennis tournament?

Gibbs -- not getting ahead. Again.

Jake Tapper...that sly sense of humor gets me every time. [He's asking about raising taxes]

questions so far: AP, Reuters, CNN, ABC.

"There have been many benefits for the few at the expense of many benefits for the many..." That could be a preview of Obama's speech tomorow

Chip Reid (of CBS) on the question block right now...Chuck Todd's goatee bides its time.

Why can't we get ahead of Obama...is this like running with Bush where no one is allowed to beat him?

Cillizza attempts humor in many of his Tweets. I'm not posting those.

Chuck Todd up. He's asking about a Social Security task force, Gibbs saying that Obama is committed to dealing with the rising costs of retirement and health security. Back to Cillizza:

Helen jumps the Line!

"There are many issues in front of us." -- Gibbs saying something.

Helen wants to know why Soc Security is a focus. Gibbs responds by using the phrase "inflection point".

Helen: Why tinker with SS when it's solvent?

Gibbs: We won't be on sustainable path until we address the issues.

Helen: Why is it an issue?

David Corn: On the White House email issues and transparency. Gibbs tells him to talk to DoJ. Says he doesn't know their specifics. He insists the Obama administration seeks transparency.

Cilizza: Gibbs just said "repository".

"There are many things I love, I am not sure transparency..." um, smart of Gibbs not to finish that sentence.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs takes questions

By GottaLaff

Robert Gibbs, re: the vetting process:

"The president has confidence in the system, in the nominees... The president has confidence in the process... We all take responsibility, the president takes responsibility."

More Q and A:

Q: There's a standard of responsibility, why didn't President Obama make the decision, not the nominee?

Gibbs: I'm not going to look through the rear view mirror. The president understands that each of these individuals has served his country with distinction. Each decided they couldn't distract from the agenda that the president is pursuing, which is bigger than any of us. He accepts their decisions.

Chuck Todd: So, had he not withdrawn, the president wouldn't have asked him to resign?

Gibbs: I won't play hypothetical. Senator Daschle decided and that's where we are. ... The decision was made by Senator Daschle. ... He did not get a signal from the White House.

Q: Daschle's unique qualifications have been discussed. Now what, for health care?

Gibbs: The issue of affordable health care is bigger than one person. It encompasses so much of our economy... Many people are working on this issue right now. We're looking for a new nominee.

Q: Will Daschle now lobby the goverment?

Gibbs: He's not a lobbyist, so he can't.

Fox Q: Lobbyists in your administration...

Gibbs: We have the best record of anyone on this. Go read Norm Ornstein. I'm just telling you to refer back to the same people you use at your own network. [paraphrased some]

Q: Convos between the Governor Lynch and the White House?

Gibbs: They weren't involved in picking which party, person. The sole person for selecting the next Senator from N.H. is the governor. There may have been convos between Senators and the governor...

Q: Is there a breakdown in the vetting process?

Gibbs: He's confident in the process.

David Corn: Change in D.C.... Daschle gave advice to lobbyists, same with George Mitchell... others, too. Is it more difficult than you imagine to change the ways in Washington?

Gibbs: He didn't believe he'd change the way D.C. works in the first 2 weeks in office. Our set of ethics requirements exceeds any that came before.... We have four years to try to change things.

Lynn Sweet: Did the vetting team just not know the details?

Gibbs: Asked and answered. ...

Q: Now you don't want to talk about it?

Gibbs: Two names have been withdrawn. We're looking for new names.

Q: Have things moved too quickly? Maybe things should slow down a little?

Gibbs: There are many problems in this country, and they don't slow down. We'll be working on a recovery plan shortly, financial stability... and that's just economic issues. What happened today won't slow down the challenge of the many problems we face.

Q: Concern is growing about Afghanistan...

Gibbs: The president is reviewing our policy there, met with commanders... He's evaluating... correcting... He won't make decisions without being in touch with the units involved, their families, coordination with Congress... He'll announce decisions himself, explain things to the American people himself.

Q: Nominees... Was their decision, Obama's acceptance, will they impair his credibility?

Gibbs: The decisions the nominees made were to withdraw. The president knows that change is not a 2 week project. ... He has set the highest ethical standards... He expects nothing less from anyone serving his administration.

Q: Is Obama worried about losing his message?

Gibbs: No. He talks/meets with members of Congress daily. He's working toward meeting the deadline he has set.

White House Press Corp briefing: Interior Secretary Salazar edition

By GottaLaff

My patented, award-winning, internationally acclaimed quick notes:

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is answering questions at the White House daily briefing session. The offshore drilling expansion, he says,will have to fit with Obama's overall plan.

Re: Bush's executive orders about drilling on federal lands: There are a lot of midnight hour Bush regulations, and they're "on the table and we're looking at them." Some will be kept in place, some won't. It's only been a week. But as for the drilling approach, it has to be done with the right kind of balance, and fit with the plan.

Re: Corruption in the department: There were 3 investigations by the Inspector General. Two dealt with gifts, sex, drugs taking place in government buildings. Tomorrow there will be announcements about those.

Robert Gibbs is up. President Obama is going to Canada on Feb. 19. Questions:
Pentagon meeting today: Obama will speak with all the commanders to get their perspective. The SOFA puts an end date in Iraq. It's no longer "whether", but "how and when", but Obama wants to protect the troops. Today they will discuss Afghanistan. Our forces are stretched too thin. Obama will speak soon about all of this.

Afghanistan: The policy review isn't completed yet. Longterm development in Afghanistan and in the region is being discussed.

I'll update more when I can.

Ethics in government, Ed Henry: Geithner is from Goldman Sachs. Doesn't that punch a hole in what Obama signed?

Gibbs: Ethics and transparency executive orders that were signed the first day institute a policy unlike any other in any administration in the history of our country. But no policy is going to be perfect, as Obama said. Obama didn't take money from lobbyists or PACS... not perfect, but a step in the right direction. There are good public servants who, via stringent ethics requirements, will be part of this government. We have the toughest policies in the history of U.S.

Ed Henry: But there are waivers.

Gibbs: Let's caution.. look at how many waivers we have. The policy we have is the strongest ever. That speaks for itself. It makes sense, think tanks have said, to have a limited number of waivers.

Ed Henry: Mitchell... How can he go to the mideast?

Gibbs: Let's not misconstrue. Is he a lobbyist?

Ed: Not a registered lobbyist. This firm is making money...

Gibbs: To lobby the federal gov't. you have to be registered. [now another reporter is pushing this. Gibbs is repeating his answers] Bottom line: We have the strongest policy in history of the country.

Tax cuts, economy: Let's focus on the spending that will put people back to work, not on the tiny percentage of programs.... [sorry, missed the rest... now he's talking about unemployment numbers] Let's look at the [bigger picture]. It's like trying to guess the score after the 3rd inning. CEOs today said we can't afford to wait. Focus on this bill, moving the economy forward, money will be spent in the first 18 mos., jobs will be created, reregulation...

Chip Reid: Obama was well-received, he talks more like a R than a D, as they said. But he's had no effect on the number of votes.

Gibbs: This is a many-day process. There will be votes tonight, next week, weeks after that. We will have a bipartisan proposal to get the economy moving again. Let's not stop after the 3rd inning. It's a long process. The three or so hours, Obama feels, were well-spent yesterday. It was not a p.r. stunt, the quotes are, it was sincere. And they're right. Listening is important as we focus on the many pieces of legislation...

Chip: Cocktail party tonight, what's the genesis of that idea? The number of guests is split equally among Rs and Dems. Is that how it will be?

Gibbs: He accepted the offer to come to Capitol Hill yesterday. As for the ratios of tonight, I don't know. We have an equal number of leaders. He looks forward to establishing a strong working rel'ship with them. He understands that both he and Congress will be judged by what they do for the American people.

Chuck Todd: TARP is hundreds of billions short.

Gibbs: I didn't see that report before I came out here. Obama's considering a series of proposals. He spoke to Volker today about financial re-regulation. The CBO said without stimulus, the recession will be the largest since the Great Depression [paraphrased, hopefully accurately].... One aspect of the plan alone will not address the crisis. Each of the legs needs to be addressed. There is agreement in Congress about that, that we have to work together.

VIDEO: Obama thanks the press for not "ripping up Gibbs"

By GottaLaff

Guess who dropped in on the White House press room:

And one of FishbowlDC's Guest Bloggers writes:

Our friends over at the White House tell us President Obama did a surprise walk-through of the Press Briefing Room this evening. He stopped to say he's proud of his press secretary Robert Gibbs, who had his first White House briefing today, and that he gave Gibbs a congratulatory "fist bump" afterwards.

President Obama also revealed to his press corps that he's already put a new backboard on the tennis court so that he can play basketball full-court.

When reporters threw serious questions his way, President Obama said he wouldn't be able to come through if he just got grilled every time, but also shared that he'd hold a press conference soon.

Once in awhile, the press should allow Obama to be Obama, enjoy his company, and give him a break.

Lots of coverage all over the place.

"That's the first and last time we'll see him in here," NBC's Chuck Todd joked as the president went back to the Oval Office.

For good reason:

Asked how he could reconcile a strict ban on lobbyists in his administration with a Deputy Defense Secretary nominee who lobbied for Raytheon, Obama interrupted with a knowing smile on his face.

"Ahh, see," he said, "I came down here to visit. See this is what happens. I can't end up visiting with you guys and shaking hands if I'm going to get grilled every time I come down here."

Pressed further by the Politico reporter about his Pentagon nominee, William J. Lynn III, Obama turned more serious, putting his hand on the reporter's shoulder and staring him in the eye.

"Alright, come on" he said, with obvious irritation in his voice. "We will be having a press conference at which time you can feel free to [ask] questions. Right now, I just wanted to say hello and introduce myself to you guys - that's all I was trying to do."

He'll have to get used to this kind of thing, but I don't blame him for getting his back up a little.

Bush Snubs Helen Thomas In Last Presser

Skip to 2:13 if you don't want to watch the whole painful thing. Helen should have kicked him in the shins for that.