Earlier today Erik posted the CNN interview where Paul walked out of a CNN interview when a reporter had the audacity to not simply accept the dodge his campaign is pitching. Better than that, however, were the actions of the House Speaker who, not liking the way that his Party might look to the public in the payroll tax debacle, apparently killed the CSPAN cameras.
Sometimes the Man just won’t let a brother get his narrative on.
If CNN is now being defined as a brother, the war is over.Report
At least the police have the decency to say that the camera malfunctioned during the interview.Report
I heard the Paul interview. They asked, he answered. Then she kept asking and asking the same question. That was badgering, not interviewing. And I’d rather vote for Al Sharpton than Ron Paul. Well, not really, but you know what I mean.
As for Boehner pulling the plug, the House had been gaveled adjourned. There is no requirement for the Speaker to be stupid, giving demagogic opponents free airtime.
Hoyer continued talking undeterred, saying, “You’re walking away, just as so many Republicans have walked away from middle-class taxpayers [and] the unemployed.” “We regret, Mr. Speaker, that you have walked off the platform without addressing this issue of critical importance to this country,” Hoyer added.
Yeah, whatever, brother. #Occupy this.
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When a politician refuses to give a straight answer – which has been Ron Paul’s other dirty little secret for years – the reporter is supposed to keep asking. Honest journalism isn’t badgering. What we don’t need is more Beltway deference to dishonest politicians like Ron Paul, just because his willfully blind fanboys would rather not admit that their idol has feet of clay.Report
Ron Paul did give a straight answer, the same one as BHO re Rev. Wright. The difference is the press accepted Obama’s answer happily.Report
Yeah, man, because Rev. Wright quoting the Iraqi Ambassador after 9-11 is Such A Bad thing… (you listened to his entire sermon yet?)Report
TVD:
I agree. Paul answered the questions but they keep asking the same question. Paul should have ask his interviewer how many times he has to answer the same question, 10, 20 50, 100 times, etc. What is amusing is that before CNN shows the clip, Wolf and Gloria discuss that fact that he asked Paul the same questions previously and yet they still can’t figure out why he might balk at being asked the same questions again. Sadly CNN was able to turn his refusal to re-answer the question into a whole new story about him walking out.Report
The Speaker controls C-SPAN?
I learned something new today.
Doesn’t this strike anybody else as a supremely bad idea?Report
I’m fine with it, once you know the specifics. Feb 2011:
Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) this week rejected the cable network’s latest appeal to put cameras in the House chamber. C-SPAN wants the freedom to pan away from speakers to capture conversations between members and lawmakers’ reactions to things said during debate.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.), Mr. Boehner’s predecessor as speaker, rejected similar appeals.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/02/04/house-chatter-on-c-span-not-this-session/
To me, such control of the visuals gives C-SPAN staff the chance to editorialize, to shape the narrative. And frankly, I’ve had plenty enough of that from the “neutral” mass media.
In his letter to C-SPAN, Mr. Boehner said the current set-up “ensures that every word spoken during legislative debates…is broadcast live.
“Lawmakers know that when they step up to speak, the nation is watching,” he continued. “This has helped keep the public informed and has ensured an accurate historical record for nearly 30 years.”
Now if the Speaker and his/her minions are/were manipulating the visuals to impose their own narrative, that would be bad. But as near as I can tell, when the House is in session, neutral cameras are on whoever’s speaking. This is good enough for me, an official record, largely unspoiled by human hands and clever partisan brains.Report
It’s a novel one, too. Apparently it dates back to Feb of this year. What was going on in February?Report
Boehner had just taken over the Speakership from Pelosi…Report