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10 Jan 2012 15:43

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U.S.: WH press secretary disputes Jodi Kantor’s book on the Obamas

  • This is a remarkably harmonious place.
  • White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, rebutting the new book “The Obamas” • Writer Jodi Kantor’s latest book, “The Obamas,” is all about life inside the White House, with a focus on Michelle Obama’s experiences.  There have been quite a number of critics coming out, claiming that she got a lot wrong. Thanks to BuzzFeed, we learned that (excepting some smaller errors on her part) many of those criticisms haven’t held weight. source
Posted by samimain • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2011 15:48

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Politics: Gingrich’s campaign suffers high-level staffer exodus

  • A bad day for big Newt: Want to know what can’t fill your heart with confidence heading into a Presidential primary? When your press secretary tells the AP he’s resigning, and your campaign manager, along with a spate of aides throughout Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina follow suit. Gingrich has said that he will continue to run, undeterred by this “rats fleeing the sinking ship” sort of moment. As it happens, Gingrich wasn’t even in the country a few days ago — he’s on vacation with his wife near the Greek Isles (which, in the midst of a campaign in such crisis, doesn’t make him seem that serious about all this). source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

27 Jan 2011 18:46

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U.S.: Who’s this Jay Carney dude? A wasted opportunity, that’s who.

  • We have no clue who this Jay Carney loser is. But we don’t like him. He looks like a square whose nose doesn’t completely fit on his face. We had a lot of hopes and dreams about helping the Obama administration on its long road towards triangulation, but now, the dream is dead. This loser, who once worked at some lame-ass publication that nobody’s ever heard of called “Time”, used to be Biden’s press secretary before they moved him over to Obama’s job. Had he kept said job, we would’ve been totally cool with him. But, now, Jay, it’s war. You’re about as suited to this job as Jim Varney would’ve been. You guys have phonetically similar names. That’s not a coincidence. Like Mr. Varney, you will be considered a laughingstock in your industry. And we’ll be sitting over here, waiting for you to fall down, ready to gain what is rightfully ours. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jan 2011 23:25

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Politics: Dear Obama: We’re everything you need in a press secretary

  • Look, now that Robert Gibbs is leaving you must be taking resumes or something. And before we go about submitting an application to the Obama/Biden beast (and spending hours upon hours updating our resume), we thought it might help to explain what you’d be getting if the ShortFormBlog staff took over the work of Mr. Professional himself, Robert “Obama’s bulldog” Gibbs. We can’t expect to be everything for you that he was, but we do have a lot of unique qualifications, including:
  • We like complaining! We notice that your administration doesn’t know when to complain about the right’s withering attacks on your character, on your policies, on your place of birth, on how ugly Bo is, on how much money Michelle spent on that trip to Spain, etc., etc. … God, can you give us a break? This job is really hard and we’re trying to save you from yourselves!
  • Blurby Press releases The Obama administration has had many PR innovations in its first two years in office – an open-source Web backend, a hugely-popular Twitter account, an entertaining Flickr account … but you’re missing something. You need press releases with giant numbers, profanity and myriad obscure pop-culture references. We can offer that.
  • The press will be putty Look … between CNN, Fox News, NBC, the other networks … they’ll all ask really tough questions and we’ll evade them by using the Socratic method. Sample dialogue: Them – “Why was Obama golfing during the oil spill?” Us – “Why do you care? You’re annoying and nobody watches your channel anyway, CNN.” Yeah, we’re good.
  • » So, what do you say, brah? We’re available to work immediately, and your organization could use someone like us. We’d make things interesting, because we know how drab the White House gets when there’s no change. We can be that change you promised, Barack.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

05 Jan 2011 22:36

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Politics: Robert Gibbs: My leaving the White House useful for Obama

  • The best service I can provide this president is, for the next couple of years, outside this building.
  • Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs • Explaining his reasoning for leaving the warm confines of the White House. Essentially, he won’t be working for Obama inside of the press room, but on the public circuit, where he can show off his feisty nature a bit more freely. It says a lot about Obama’s presidency that two of his top three first-term guys in the White House will still play major roles in his second term – even if it’s not inside the stoic walls of the White House itself. His lead confidantes are mostly loyal. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jan 2011 10:26

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Politics: Sigh: Robert Gibbs stepping down as Obama’s press secretary

  • You know, we like Robert Gibbs. Endlessly entertaining, more willing to make waves than any other recent press secretary, and a great fit for Obama. He’s feisty where Obama is measured. He isn’t a mouthpiece. He’s a contributor and played a huge role in Obama’s first two years. And that’s why, even though he’s leaving as press secretary in February, he’s still likely to play a role in Obama’s future campaigns. We salute you, Robert Gibbs. You make Scott McClellan look like the straight-up mouthpiece he was. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Oct 2010 10:31

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Politics: Rumor of the day: Robert Gibbs as the next DNC chair?

Why the hell not? The RNC has had a loose cannon as its leader for the last 18 months. Why shouldn’t the DNC have a straight shooter? Wait, what about Tim Kaine? He’s pretty good. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

17 Feb 2010 22:03

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Politics: Good news! Robert Gibbs’ tweets subject to Presidential Records Act

  • What I write and what I tweet is archived as a part of this Presidential Records Act of 1978 because it is work product created as part of my job at the White House. People that follow me, people that read that, people that re-tweet that, none of that goes into this or is archived as a result of the Presidential Records Act.
  • White House press secretary Robert Gibbs • On the archive status of his tweets. Gibbs, who just became the first person in the White House to tweet on an official basis, is required to have the information documented. It’s good because it keeps him honest. It’s good because it keeps the history alive. But it’s still kind of strange due to the fact that social media and the PRA aren’t super-compatible. In other news, after a questionable first post, he’s doing a pretty good job of going with the Twitter flow. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

31 May 2009 11:23

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U.S., World: Ouch! Robert Gibbs just took a broad swipe at the U.K. press

  • If I was looking for something that bordered on truthful news, I’m not entirely sure it’d be in the first pack of clips I’d pick up. You’re not going to find very many of these newspapers and truth within 25 words of each other.
  • Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs • On British press reports that the blocked Abu Ghraib photos showed graphic scenes of torture and rape. Not to be critical or anything, but the British press – in fact, the very paper you’re criticizing, The Daily Telegraph – did just take down a sitting House of Commons speaker. You should probably give them some credit, Robert. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Mar 2009 23:09

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Politics, U.S.: Why we like Obama’s press secretary, Robert Gibbs

  • Well, I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy, so they trotted out the next most popular member of the Republican cabal.
  • Press Secretary Robert Gibbs • On Dick Cheney’s recent criticism of the Obama administration. Dude’s totally a straight-shooter. When asked whether this was the administration’s official position on Cheney, he responded, “Sometimes I ask forgiveness, rather than for permission.” Nice show, chap. Bush’s press secretaries were never near this off-the-cuff. • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink
 
 
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