White House Softball

I was one of the 10,000,000 people watching NBC Nightly News Thursday, hearing Brian Williams report about the ringer in the White House press briefings. Like many of those viewers, I was not aware this story, about a supposed White House correspondent who is not actually a legitimate reporter but is a plant by a Republican Party activist in Texas, had been in the news for several days.

This man, who was not using his real name, somehow managed to gain access to the White House briefings and was frequently called on to ask what are called "softball" questions, one example being the kind that express agreement with the goals of the administration and ask how the administration is going to accomplish those goals. While this impostor has often been called upon, many legitimate reporters are being passed over because they asked the legitimately hard questions many of the American people want answered.

When Bush holds a rare press conference with the White House Press Corps, he appears to call on reporters somewhat at random and impressively calls them all by first name. Bush reportedly does have a good memory for names of people he wants to "work", a vital skill for a con man. But in fact, before the press conference, Bush is given a seating chart with a list of the names of the people he is going to call on, so he can be sure to avoid the more serious questioners. And then, like many con men, he usually has a ringer or two planted in the crowd.

The Nashua Advocate has an interesting article investigating how this phony reporter gained access:
http://nashuaadvocate.blogspot.com/2005/02/former-white-house-press-secretary-ari.html