White House Pressuring Reporters To Further “Dems Divided On Iraq” Narrative

[CatWoman]

Think Progress:

Last week, Bush administration officials invited senior congressional reporters to the White House and pressured them to increase their coverage of how Iraq war critics are "divided" over legislative strategy, multiple sources have confirmed with ThinkProgress.

The sources say White House officials pointed to examples of national political reporters who have highlighted such "division" and pressed the congressional reporters to follow suit. Specifically, the White House pointed to a recent AP piece on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), which reported that Obama believes that "f President Bush vetoes an Iraq war spending bill as promised, Congress quickly will provide the money without the withdrawal timeline the White House objects to." In a speech this week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) also drew attention to the AP's characterization:

When the president vetoes, as he should, the bill that refuses to support General Petraeus' new plan, I hope Democrats in Congress will heed the advice of one of their leading candidates for president, Senator Obama, and immediately pass a new bill to provide support to our troops in Iraq without substituting their partisan interests for those of our troops and our country.

The effort to highlight this article is notable because it turned out to be baseless. The AP report never directly quoted Obama saying that Congress would give up its fight for a withdrawal timeline, and Obama has said the AP's characterization is false. Indeed, Obama has been quoted saying the direct opposite - that Congress will continue to force votes on a timeline - both before and after the AP report.

If you see instances of White House reporting that focuses on the whole notion that the Democrats are divided on withdrawal (because, let's be honest, Lieberman wasn't a Democrat on this issue even when there was a "-D" legitimately by his name), please let us know. Let's call out these White House stenographers.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/13/white-house-pressuring-reporters-to-further-dems-divided-on-iraq-narrative/

[symbolman]

1. Thanks for the heads up sweetie

always enjoy your posts.

We've got to let people know what kind of SHIT is being INSTALLED UNDER the Hood of their Heads - I've taken to calling a lot of folks I hear saying the same crap over and over again, in public, just like they're having a REAL conversation, "Repeater Stations" :)

They have no idea what's been DRUMMED Into them, literally...

Keep up the good work :)

And now a little K & R

[annabanana]

2. Thanks!. . . . .n/t

[spanone]

3. And I'm sure the press will be more than glad to accomodate them.

:hurts:

[Cha]

4. The corporatemediawhores and

the bushit regime are in full fightin' surge mode.

Hoping more and more Americans are going to the net and searching out the truth for themselves because Uncle Dick and the pressbitches aren't cuttin' it, baby.

[C_U_L8R]

5. lets see who rolls over for them

and who resists

i really want to believe that there are journalists out there
wwith some shred of integrity

[Usrename]

6. Excellent, they keep getting forced into their overt mode.

Thanks for posting this. It shows how desperate they are. Which makes them all the more dangerous.

I think they WILL control the message, no matter who gets hurt.

[w4rma]

7. "heed the advice of one of their leading candidates for president, Senator Obama"

Ugh. And this is why I was so angry when Obama said what he said.

[Name removed]

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