Obama bristles as the bubble closes in on him

[DogPoundPup]

Source: Politico

HONOLULU – The media glare, the constant security appendage and the sheer production that has become a morning jog or a hankering for an ice cream cone – it’s been closing in on Barack Obama for some time.

Now the president-elect appears increasingly conscious of the confines of his new position, bristling at the routine demands of press coverage and beginning to chafe at boundaries that are only going to get smaller.

Obama even took the unusual step Friday morning of leaving behind the pool of reporters assigned to follow him, taking his daughters to a nearby water park without them. It was a breach of longstanding protocol between presidents (or presidents-elect) and the media, that a gaggle of reporters representing television, print and wire services is with his motorcade at all times.

Then when reporters finally caught up with Obama at Koko Marina Paradise Deli and he acknowledged them for one of few times since arriving in Hawaii last Saturday, he sounded resigned.

After ordering a tuna melt on 12-grain bread, Obama approached reporters and placed his hand on the shoulder of pool reporter Philip Rucker of The Washington Post, who was scribbling away in his notebook.

“You don't really need to write all that down,” Obama said.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1208/16882.html

[Raven]

1. Maybe this will be part of the change he is bringing. There is no

good reason why reporters have to follow the President everywhere. He should be able to have some privacy especially with his family. This 24/7 coverage is another bad habit that should be broken.

[Divine Discontent]

4. I respect his desire to have privacy, but thinking he would get it as the most 'exciting' president

we've had since Kennedy, as far as I can tell, is laughable. Hopefully he did it b/c he's not pres yet. I want them near him, as I always feel it's important they're nearby for history's sake, if anything happens.

[tomg]

6. I was thinking the same thing.

We are almost finished with an administration where we were privy to everything about the pResident's biking and brush clearing and pretzel eating habits, and nothing about the most disastrous and self-serving policies and among the most secretive methods of determining those policies. If Obama can break the back of the media's 24-hour news cycle where whether he orders a tuna melt or a tuna salad is given equal coverage to his policies on,say, health care, he will have effected something very important.

For one thing, if there is less 'personal' and 'personality' coverage, and CNN and MSNBC ( Fox will, of course, continue to just make things up - Breaking News: Obama orders a Tuna Melt Sandwich, although also offered a ham and swiss. What message is he sending to American hog farmers and the Middle East?) and the rest are still going full tilt, then instead of this nonsense that passes for commentary on real issues, they might just have to step back and think about things and, instead of going to our lowest common denominator, they could actually provide some substantive commentary.

Oh, and he, like everyone else, deserves some privacy with his family.

[ixion]

2. gotta love the double standard...

* never let the press get anywhere near him, and nary a word from them. Obama has been far more generous in the access he's provided, and now they whine when he wants two seconds of peace and quiet.

Do I need to remind them that * held fewer press conferences than any other modern prez?

[Earth_First]

3. I understand that public life is the path that Obama has taken himself and his family...

however when the press gaggle are taking notes on everything from the style of jeans he wears, to the type of BREAD on which his sandwhich was fixed; I can understand the frustration.

[elleng]

5. F this crap!

"BRISTLES"

[donco6]

7. I didn't see any "bristling" there.

As usual, Obama's response was calm and direct.

[gblady]

18. yeah....

this is the part that got me, too....
the f'n sensationalizing that the MSM does just drives me nuts.

[bemildred]

8. More narcissistic drivel from the media whores. nt

[JeanGrey]

9. Poor guy. Why would anyone want this.

[Historic NY]

10. Tuna melt.........

yum. :donut:

[AspenRose]

13. But what kind of CHEESE was it? Damn reporter is falling down on the job.

That's one of those "need to know" kinds of things....


:sarcasm:

[merh]

15. didn't he ask for cheddar

of course, we don't know if it was mild or sharp, but I am pretty sure it was cheddar :freak:

[shellgame26]

16. lol

:rofl:

[Bigmack]

11. I'm only concerned about his safety.

The whackjobs out there can get to him easier if he's available to them.

The US and the world need him badly. He's our best shot at surviving this mess.

Part of me wants to wrap him in bubble wrap and Kevlar for the next 4 or 8 years and surround him with a wall of Secret Service, but even that wouldn't guarantee his safety.

[Captain Hilts]

12. THIS is what made FDR different. The presidency was liberating for him...

He'd long since lost his privacy, and when he became president, he suddenly had a swat team to build ramps, carry him, etc.

For FDR, unlike any other president, the presidency was liberating.

[HeraldSquare212]

14. They follow the President in case something happens to him

they don't want to miss the story. So it's not about the tuna sandwich, it's about a possible car crash or assassination attempt, etc. Pretty ghoulish, actually.

[gblady]

17. huh?