HOWARD FINEMAN DROPS THE BOMB!

[skooooo]

He says the McCain campaign is actively trying to intimidate reporters who ask questions about Palin. Just now on Hardball!

[redqueen]

1. Haven't a few reporters said that now?

[skooooo]

4. Fineman said it so explicitely, it was jarring, imo.

[redqueen]

6. Maybe enough of them will get fed up with it and stop treating McSame with kid gloves.

We can hope, anyway...

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. So PUSH BACK, you reporters! Geesh.

[LSparkle]

8. Yeah, REALLY ... It's not enough just to NOTE IT'S HAPPENING ...

What are you going to do about it?

From "Broadcast News" (paraphrasing):

HOLLY HUNTER to WILLIAM HURT: Oh, I know I'm not QUALIFIED for this
job but I feel REALLY BAD about it, folks ... Quit WHINING. Demand
to be better prepared, take a journalism course ...

[dennis4868]

3. Fineman also said that...

Obama is no saint either regarding giving access to the media....I think he said this to make McCain happy...

[DJ13]

9. ........and thus caved in to the Republican pressure

Howard has the backbone of an erect jellyfish.

[ErinBerin84]

10. exactly.

He is the type of recoiler that Klein was talking about in that article.

[Epiphany4z]

14. giving access is on thing

intimidating is another.

[butterfly77]

Fineman is trying to compare Palin's hiding ...

from interviews to Obama there is no comparison...

[marew]

17. You are absolutely right!

Obama had been running around talking to people for 18 months. Did you hear them say Obama, Biden, and McSame will all be on talk shows this weekend and Palin won't! They know she can't answer any questions. Unfuckingbelievable. We deserve to hear her answer questions.

[butterfly77]

24. So if McCain kicks the bucket..

then she will become the president with anyone knowing anything about her, this is a bunch of bullshit when they have been whining about Obama,,,

[Epiphany4z]

5. Pat was on before

fighting with tweety...he wasn't us to believe she should not have to talk to anyone the McCain camp doesn't want her to. They owe us no answeres....or we don't want them...

They are actually going to try to do this without having her prove she is ready.

[LSparkle]

13. "They OWE us NO ANSWERS"????? WTF? Is this a fucking MONARCHY?

We, the "rabble-rousers" AREN'T ENTITLED TO ANSWERS FROM
OUR LEADERS? Who do they think they fucking WORK FOR?
Are we only entitled to a "presentation" every four years
(the famous "accountability moment") and then after we've
fallen for it, they can go away and RUN ROUGHSHOD OVER
US until the next "election"?

THIS IS INSANE.

[ErinBerin84]

7. yeah, they're scummy.

politico included (in their article about the McCain campaign's intimidation of CNN, NYT, Washington Post, etc) that the Mccain campaign claimed Fineman "floated option of dropping Palin", and Fineman said that it wasn't true and that he had pointed out positives about Palin as well. Fineman kind of sucks though, making excuses for the McCain campaign and says that the Obama campaign is "controlled too". Ok, but are they keeping their VP under lockdown, Fineman?

[skooooo]

11. I heard him charge McCain with initimidation..which is pretty serious.

Sounds like something else stood out more to you. Still, I think him stating this on the national news is important.

[mzmolly]

15. What are they afraid of?

Saying we can't ask questions because she's a woman, is sexist in and of itself.

[skooooo]

16. intimidation?

Well I guess anyone can be intimidated .... :shrug:

Not sure what you don't understand.

[mzmolly]

27. By "they're," I meant republicans.

:hi:

[ErinBerin84]

19. I know

but Fineman is just the kind of reporter who will say this, and then just bend over with more lazy journalism. He sounded kind of defeated. "it is what it is". However, people like Brian Williams and Barbara Walters (on the View) have been reading parts of Joe Klein's article, so it's all good.

[skooooo]

22. Well..ok...

He said they went after him personally. It was very striking to me.

Even if he doesn't "do" anything, it's on record.

[quakerboy]

12. Hopefully that means

it is now no longer a hidden thing, and others will follow suite. the behind the scenes crap is unbelievable, I am sure.

[Shine]

18. Call them out and keep asking questions!!

:applause:

[lamp_shade]

20. He was very good. He's pissed.

[meow2u3]

21. These are the consequences of bashing the media

You're going to get pummeled. The media doesn't take kindly to blatant bashing.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

30. If there are no questions then every single event is just a promo

The Republicans have always vetted their audiances more than their candidates. The questions from the audiance will be variants on "Sen. MCCain when exactly did you realize how totally terrific Gov. Palin is?"

Since they will just be scripted promotional events, there really is no need to cover them, is there? They are tryong to turn the entire press corps into their personal marketing and promotion people.

No access, no questions, intimidation - No coverage. See how NO coverage works for a campaign.

[Zavulon]

23. What "bomb" is this?

Like we didn't know this was coming?

[RagAss]

25. WELL THEN STEP UP HOWARD !!!!!

[Arugula Latte]

26. They should record these phone calls w/ McCain campaign staff and play 'em on the air.

[central scrutinizer]

28. Wouldn't that be sexist behavior by McCain?

Can't she stick up for her ownself? Does she need a man to do the heavy lifting?

[JBoy]

29. This election is becoming a test of the media's integrity. Reclaim your profession!

[Cha]

31. I'm sure the National Enquirer just LOVES It!

More SCOOPS for them!