Last night Barack Obama had his second press conference. And for the second time, Obama there was a teleprompter there.This is not change I can believe in: A president using training wheels.
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6 comments:
Yeah, that Obama and his training wheels! I mean, George W. Bush totally never used a teleprompter! Oh, wait, he did. And his father did too. What about the so-called “Great Communicator”? Guilty as well. So maybe this teleprompter outrage is all a bunch of overblown nonsense, hengh?
Did they do it at press conferences?
Fun fact for Mr. Ruberry: all U.S. presidents in recent history have read a prepared statement at the beginning of a press conference. Often it would come in the form of a sheet of "paper" (a sort of pre-Kindle™ teleprompter). President Bush preferred cue cards, for example.
There are many legitimate criticisms of President Obama; please find one and post that instead of grasping for straws. Kthxbai!
Answers to questions and talking points can't be posted on 8' x 10' pieces of paper during a press conference.
This will be my final comment. I never suggested that questions at press conferences are answered by previously written prepared statements. If you had actually read the AP article to which you linked, this is noted as well:
"The teleprompter was no help during the question-and-answer session (reporters don't signal their intentions)..."
The opening statement of a press conference, however, can be written down and usually has been. The medium, whether paper or teleprompter screen, is irrelevant. Obama is not doing anything fundamentally different from any of his predecessors.
Thus, this remains an utterly idiotic and hypocritical critique of the president.
p.s. George W. Bush did indeed have note cards containing talking points during many of his press conferences. Additionally, staffers for his father criticized Ronald Reagan "for needing cue cards to speak."
Could it possibly be that during the press conference, answers are being posted on the screen by someone like Rahm Emanuel, who was tapping away at his Blackberry during that press conference?
Obama, unlike the Gipper, is working with a lapdog media, such as AP, although I'm glad the service brought the issue teleprompter up, however incompletely.
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