Sam Donaldson was noted for giving President Reagan, in particular, a rough time at press conferences and other events. However, Donaldson is fairly outraged over the antics of Daily Caller reporter Neil Munro for his crassness and abandonment of decorum during the President’s announcement of changes in immigration policy.
According to Sam Donaldson, in an email:
“I like Tucker (let all flowers bloom) but I really resent his trying to tie his reporter’s actions to mine. He knows better.
Never once did I interrupt a president in any way while he was making a formal statement, a speech, honoring awardees or in any other way holding the floor. Yes, almost always when he was finished in the Rose Garden or in the Briefing Room or at a photo opportunity with other world leaders I tried to question him (only rarely was it a shout on the rope line, more often a more normal tone of voice) and other reporters of course did the same thing along with me.
What this man did yesterday is something new, to me wrong and unusual. I think it is probably the result of the growing incivility of the times, the competition among reporters and news organizations to be noticed not only for the work product but for the theatrics of the gathering…and there is one more factor, let’s face it: Many on the political right believe this president ought not to be there – they oppose him not for his polices and political view but for who he is, an African American! These people and perhaps even certain news organizations (certainly the right wing talkers like Limbaugh) encourage disrespect for this president. That is both regrettable and adds, in this case, to the general dislike of the press on the part of the general public.
For Tucker Carlson to say that he would if he can give this man a raise for this rude attempt to interrupt the president is reflective of what I’ve said above and, to me, lowers my opinion of Tucker.
Donaldson is not the only journalist to weigh in on the issue. Others, including Fox News journalist Chris Wallace expressed outrage at the poor behavior on the part of Neil Munro. According to the Huffington Post:
Numerous political journalists quickly criticized Munro for his outburst during Obama’s prepared remarks, including on Fox News, where Carlson is a contributor. Fox News host Chris Wallace said the interruption was “outrageous” and different than the way Donaldson did his job in the 1980s.
“I covered Ronald Reagan for six years with Sam Donaldson,” Wallace said. “We used to scream our lungs out asking questions, but we always waited until the president, any president, had finished speaking. The idea that you would interrupt the president in the middle of prepared remarks and shout a question, I don’t think the guy should be allowed back in the White House on a press pass, and my guess is he won’t be.”
This country needs to return to an era where the rules of decorum are observed. I never realized how much manners and general civility had deteriorated until the summer of the tea party disruptions. Town hall meeting after town hall meeting was disrupted by people who thought they could just shout down the speaker, whether it was the elected official or person from the audience making a point. Most people attend those public meetings to learn and to ask questions. No one can learn or ask questions when citizens feel they are so important they can shout down others. That is thug behavior. Things have gone south since that summer.
It is traditional to exhibit certain respect to our elected officials. Our traditions aren’t bad. They tell us how to behave in a constant set way. We can disagree, we can be outraged, but we must behave while we are feeling those emotions. That’s what makes us ultimately a civilized society. Standardized behavior is not bad. Standardized thought is. Standardized behavior based on the rules of common courtesy make sure that everyone has a comfort zone in public.
Shame on Neil Munro. Shame on Tucker Carlson for defending him. He did the indefensible and then tried weasel wording out of it…”I dind’t know he was still talking.” Bull Puckey. Yea ya did. Neil, open your ears instead of your mouth. No one says you have to like the man. Just be polite. We aren’t a nation of public shoe throwers.
It seems to me when men quit wearing hats and tipping them to every woman they met along the way down the street, things began to change. I still remember my father wore a fedora every day and I can still see him tipping his hat and saying, “Good morning/afternoon M’am”, or using the woman’s name if he knew her. All the years I was in the military, I would salute civilian women with the same sort of greeting–it was always a delight to watch their face light up with a huge smile. I miss those days of gentility.
Now you have me thinking. Did men ti[p their hats to each other? Also, when did men stop wearing hats? I think my father wore one most of his life also. But I don’t remember when it stopped being standard dress.
My husband stands up when women come in the room. That is rather old fashioned. I don’t men like his daughter or me, but women who aren’t family or close friends.
Now the usual suspects are trying to pin this on racism. Have you listened to the various talking heads and idiotic politicians trying to say that Holder and Obama are being subject to “harassment” because they’re black?
That’s supposed to be the only reason that they’re getting questions.
Speaking of the Daily Caller..
Anyone see the irony in a gun giveaway where the gun has the bill of rights written on it but the gun was made in California?? 🙂
http://dailycaller.com/the-daily-caller-gun-giveaway-week-4-follow-us-on-google
I agree that Munro was rude, but there should have been an opportunity for the press to ask questions. They shouldn’t be invited to the White House to be nothing more than stenographers. They’re supposed to ask the tough questions, especially when the President drops a huge policy bombshell on a Friday afternoon. Obama doesn’t seem to mind when his speeches are interrupted by adulatory chants.
There’s a big difference in a formal announcement and an on the road rally.
We have a president, not a king issuing edicts. When the president announces something as significant as the government bestowing special rights on the children of lawbreakers, it’s significant enough that the press present at the announcement should not be mere props. I think it’s legit to question why a 24-year-old who comes to this country and then stays 5 years will fall under this new privilege. Came with his parents? Yeahhhhh.
I don’t think that person would count. I can’t prove it at the moment but that person should not be included. I think it maybe has to be an American high school.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-nothing-sweet-about-heckling-obama-in-the-rose-garden/2012/06/19/gJQAHgs1oV_story.html
exerpts I found especially salient to this discussion:
Read the full article and Milbank admonishes Tucker Carlson for praising the poor behavoir of this reporter. I remember Tucker well from his days at CNN, I did his make up often. He was a pompous ass then and still is today.
Blah, blah, blah. Milbank is so far in the tank for Obama that SOMEONE actually needs to act like a reporter. Too bad the President never actually expects the peasants to ask him questions.
Tucker may be an ass. Heck, I found it to be rude when this happened. But its a SYMPTOM. MSNBC and other supposedly professional media outlets have been caught lying and spreading propaganda. Editing tape that distorts Republicans or any others they feel is on the “other” side, ie Zimmerman.
So, was this reporter’s mistimed question worse than MSNBC lying about Romney through edited tape?
What does Milbank have to do with it? He is a opinion columnist. He also isn’t always pro Obama. It depends on what it is over. Why are you picking at MSNBC over this rudeness. They reported it, the same as everyone else. Please tell me you aren’t saying that Fox would never mistime, question, quote or truncate an event. Please..oh please tell me that.
So who lied about Romeny? Yawn. Give mt the details. My problem is, Romney lies about Romney. that is sort of hard to dispute..when it is out of his mouth.
MSNBC edited a tape to blatantly make Romney’s statements at an event look like he didn’t know what he was talking about. It wasn’t just slanted. It was edited out.
Zimmerman’s tapes were blatantly edited to make him seem like a racist.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/303246/msnbc-edited-romney-wawa-video-katrina-trinko#
So, is rudeness worse than lying?
Who edited the tapes? Which show? Let’s hone in on specifics with MSNBC. I don’t want any news show doing that. It is spreading lies.
However, this might be more appropriate up under the thread where Fox News truncated what the president said.
As for wawa…I am not sure about the segue. Both videos made me think that Romney probably didn’t spend a lot of time in WaWa. None of us do if we can avoid it.
Zimmerman? I have not seen any proof that Zimmerman’s edited tapes made him look racist. Pretty much everything about the case makes me think he uses poor judgement and jumps to conclusions based on what he thinks he knows. Is that racist? I don’t know. I rarely use that expression.
Do I think he jumped to his own conclusions when he saw Treyvon Martin? Yes.
Cargo,
Once again, you give polar opposite points in one comment.
So on one hand you acknowledge the reporter was rude, on the other hand you say it is ok to to be rude because of MSNBC past behavior. First of all, when was MSNBC that rude to President Bush during a press conference?
No one is arguing the reporters right to ASK the question,it is the MANNER in which he asked it. Of course Obama expects to get blow back and be accused of vote pandering and amnesty, but that doesnt mean that he deserves to be disrespected while being asked.
They are related. The President treats the press and the public as below his notice. He does not DEIGN to answer questions. He makes his pronouncements and expects us to accept his statements at face value.
And so…frustration. The rest of the press corps is so far in the tank for Obama, they’re just stenographers.
I agreed. The reporter was rude. He did it the wrong way. But I understand WHY he did it. He was trying to get an answer for the American public…any answer. And his actions should have consequences. I don’t have a problem with any consequences happening to that reporter or Tucker’s organization. Its like civil disobedience. Once you go down that road….you take the consequences.
I bring up MSNBC/NBC not for rudeness but for dishonesty. I see no outrage here over that. NBC is lying to its viewers.
@Moon-howler
NBC’s version of the phone call allegedly had Zimmerman say the following about Martin: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.”
But in reality the two sentences were separated by a question the 911 dispatcher asked. The original phone call transcript ran like this:
Zimmerman: “We’ve had some break-ins in my neighborhood and there’s a real suspicious guy. It’s Retreat View Circle. The best address I can give you is 111 Retreat View Circle. This guy looks like he’s up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.”
911 Dispatcher: “Okay. And this guy, is he white black or Hispanic?”
Zimmerman: “He looks black.”
Edited to match the narrative that Zimmerman was a racist white man.
What link that shows Fox truncated the President’s words?
I don’t see that thread.