In his first daytime news conference yesterday, President Obama preempted "All My Children," "Days of Our Lives" and "The Young and the Restless." But the soap viewers shouldn't have been disappointed: The president had arranged some prepackaged entertainment for them.
After the obligatory first question from the Associated Press, Obama treated the overflowing White House briefing room to a surprise. "I know Nico Pitney is here from the Huffington Post," he announced.
Obama knew this because White House aides had called Pitney the day before to invite him, and they had escorted him into the room. They told him the president was likely to call on him, with the understanding that he would ask a question about Iran that had been submitted online by an Iranian. "I know that there may actually be questions from people in Iran who are communicating through the Internet," Obama went on. "Do you have a question?"
Pitney recognized his prompt. "That's right," he said, standing in the aisle and wearing a temporary White House press pass. "I wanted to use this opportunity to ask you a question directly from an Iranian."
Sadly, even then, Obama didn't really answer the question. As Ed Morrissey of Hot Air noted, what a way to show solidarity with the Iranians seeking openness and honesty from their government: co-opt the media for your own purposes. Shame on the Huffington Post for participating in such a scam, and shame on our President for selfishly mocking the notion of a free press.
Props to Dana Milbank. He's no conservative, to be sure. I respect his willingness to call out Obama on this travesty.
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