(Update: See at bottom for initial thoughts on today's presser). Obama today will reportedly be appearing in person for his first White House press conference, in front of the entire White House press corps, in 10 months (the first since the infamous presser last summer in which Obama, without a grasp of the facts, accused Cambridge cops of "acting stupidly" in arresting a Harvard professor). It's unclear whether this will be a full-blown press conference, or whether Obama will only be taking very limited questions. I suspect it's going to be more Obama prepared remarks than anything else. But regardless, he will reportedly be taking at least a few questions, and today's Politico.com posits the seven questions that it would ask at this event. Feel free to read those at the link at bottom -- I didn't read them, but instead came up with my own list of seven questions off the top of my head, which are as follows:1. Is there any truth to the repeated allegations of Joe Sestak that someone inside the White House offered him a job in the federal government if he would drop out of the Pennsylvania democratic senatorial primary race?
2. Are you really that big of a fan of quail eggs?
3. You say today that the BP oil spill has been successfully capped, but what about the massive amount of oil that's still floating out there and that's reaching land -- Do you intend to continue to follow the course of allowing BP to head up responsive efforts by themselves?
4. What has been the reason for the delay from the federal government in authorizing Louisiana to construct barrier islands off its coast to protect itself from the oil spill?
5. How do you respond to the comments yesterday from James Carville which were highly critical of your administration's efforts with respect to this oil spill and which noted that "we're dying down here"?
6. Have you watched any episodes of the VH1 reality series that all of America's been talking about -- "What Chilli Wants" -- and do you intend to catch The A-Team movie set to arrive in theaters on June 11? (Yes, I realize that's a compound question).
7. Have you read the new Arizona immigration law?
If he hasn't read it: Don't you think it would be important to read a relatively short statute that has garnered the attention of several high-ranking officials in your administration, who are now saying that the federal government will likely sue Arizona over the new law?
If he has read it: As a former constitutional law professor, what is your analysis of the constitutionality of the new law? (Follow up: Can you tell me the precise language of the statute upon which you are relying for those opinions?)
Stick me in the press corps, baby! I'm on a roll!
POST-PRESSER THOUGHTS: I only caught a portion of today's press conference over lunch hour, but also looked at a couple of media accounts. On Sestak, Obama took the same sort of "take our word for it" tone as earlier taken by Robert Gibbs, claiming that "nothing improper" occurred without any further explanation. He also promised that an "official response" from the White House will be coming soon. Why not today, Mr. President? But I think the most outrageous thing I heard from Obama today was his claim to not "know the circumstances" involved in today's resignation of Elizabeth Birnbaum, the head of Obama's Minerals Management Service (which oversees offshore drilling). Please. All in all, most of my above-listed questions were more or less covered, at least in general, as Obama was also asked about the Arizona law and extensively about the oil spill (predictably making his best effort to try to heap a portion of the blame on Bush, of course). However, it is at least a bit concerning that there was not so much as one question from the press corps about quail eggs, "What Chilli Wants," or The A-Team movie. Talk about your missed opportunity.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37857.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37857.html
Posts
