Townhall.com
Brent Bozell
February 16, 2018

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is constantly hammered by "Gotcha!" questions from reporters in the briefing room. This was dramatically underlined when the story broke about former White House staff secretary Rob Porter being accused of domestic violence by two ex-wives, one of whom even brandished a picture with a black eye.

By the time it was over, Sanders had one, too. It didn't look good, and nothing Sanders said from the lectern was going to be good enough. The same outlets that couldn't muster more than one question regarding former President Bill Clinton's alleged rape of Juanita Broaddrick seem to ask 27 questions a day about Porter.

So we wondered: How much would reporters like it if Sanders were to question them as aggressively as they question her? We know the Trump haters erupted when Sanders merely asked reporters to share what they were thankful for alongside their questions as Thanksgiving approached. Imagine an exchange like this:

NBC reporter Peter Alexander: "Sarah, how could you possibly not know about these charges, and how could Porter be praised as a good man? And why can't you offer us more transparency on the vetting process?"

Sanders: "OK, let me ask you: How could you at NBC possibly not know about the accusations of Matt Lauer aggressively propositioning women, even having a button under his desk that he could press to lock the door behind female employees? He worked at the top of NBC News for two decades, and nobody knew these women were suffering?"

Alexander: "Stop distracting. That's none of your business. We're a private company. We're not accountable to the public like you."

Sanders: "Why don't you try that defense at a Comcast shareholders meeting? 'We don't have to be vigilant about our female employees. We're a private company.' And while you're demanding transparency, how transparent was NBC in letting everyone know how it investigated Lauer's misdeeds? How transparent was NBC in investigating Brian Williams' lying on talk shows about all his amazing adventures in war zones? Next question."

Jim Acosta, CNN: "Hold on! Aren't you and the president putting democracy in danger when you try to undermine the respectability of the press corps?"

Sanders: "Jim, should we revisit the respectability of CNN? Your network accepted Saddam Hussein's claim that we bombed a baby-formula factory in Iraq. Your network's founder, Ted Turner, went to North Korea and then told Wolf Blitzer he didn't see any brutality, just thin people riding bicycles. Are you serving democracy with this kind of journalism?"

Acosta: "That's not fair. That happened long before I got here."

Sanders: "OK, Jim, how about the fact that your network let Hillary Clinton have some town-hall questions in advance of a presidential debate so she could ace the test? Or that three reporters had to resign from your network for spreading 'fake news' about Anthony Scaramucci having a secret meeting with the Russians? Your 'Facts First' apple is looking wormy and bruised."

This would probably drive the media further around the bend than they already are. But this is why Trump backers think it's smart for the president to avoid 27-question press beatings. Trump backers remember when CNN senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny, then a New York Times reporter, asked President Obama at the 100-day mark of his presidency, "What has ... Enchanted you the most from serving in this office?"

We didn't invent that quote. Reporters will angrily deny there's a dramatic double standard in what they call "holding public servants accountable." Not even they believe it.

Link

Right on!

There is a stock (meaningless) response usually trotted out when reporters themselves are asked to uphold standards - usually its chants of 'chilling effect' with no mention of the consequences of not maintaining such standards.

Or, for that matter, of the problem with a bit more chilling. Some environmentalists seem to think chilling is in order these days.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
Trump backers remember when CNN senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny, then a New York Times reporter, asked President Obama at the 100-day mark of his presidency, "What has ... Enchanted you the most from serving in this office?"

We didn't invent that quote. Reporters will angrily deny there's a dramatic double standard in what they call "holding public servants accountable." Not even they believe it.

Yeah, and if this litte prancer didn't have his asshole greased up just waiting for Barry to bugger him after the press conference, I'd be very surprised.

Disgusting behavior. My God.




This fraud's own newspaper buried the story. That really tells you something. They buried it almost as deep as this guy wants Obama's dick buried in his ass. Almost

You don’t want to abridge the freedom of the press, but nothing says you can't criticize the press as severely as their antics warrant when they exercise it. Some might react by “speaking freely.”

Just like keeping and bearing arms, or sny other of these rights, if you abuse it, there are ramifications.

I am amazed at how sexist, mean and downright misogynistic the MSM/Left is to Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Apparently it's OK to make fun of appearance and weight if you are a woman who works for President Trump, but these same people are seething with rage if anyone on the conservative side were to do the same for a liberal woman.

The double standard is just sickening.

"A slightly chunky soccer mom"

A skit on Chelsea Handler's Netflix show, Chelsea, mocks Sarah Huckabee Sanders' appearance in a parody makeup tutorial.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
You don’t want to abridge the freedom of the press, but nothing says you can't criticize the press as severely as their antics warrant when they exercise it. Some might react by “speaking freely.”

Just like keeping and bearing arms, or sny other of these rights, if you abuse it, there are ramifications.

Yeah,but where is the part about press being accountable for the accuracy of their stories?!?

Are they exempt from libel/slander laws? Why are they not held accountable by their employers?

Press credentials should not equate to a license to steal.

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
You don’t want to abridge the freedom of the press, but nothing says you can't criticize the press as severely as their antics warrant when they exercise it. Some might react by “speaking freely.”

Just like keeping and bearing arms, or sny other of these rights, if you abuse it, there are ramifications.

Yeah,but where is the part about press being accountable for the accuracy of their stories?!?

Are they exempt from libel/slander laws? Why are they not held accountable by their employers?

Press credentials should not equate to a license to steal.

The press is nearly exempt from libel and slander, especially when covering public figures, public newsworthy issues. One must show actual malice, requiring “that the plaintiff in a defamation or libel case, if that person is a public figure, prove that the publisher of the statement in question knew that the statement was false or acted in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity. Because of the extremely high burden of proof on the plaintiff, and the difficulty of proving the defendant's knowledge and intentions, such claims by public figures rarely prevail.” Wikipedia, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.

doesn't their history of bias and lying, collusion with each other, and the democrats meet the definition of malice?

Physically slap those wankerz?

I'd buy a $200 Pay-per-View ticket to see that.

Sarah is like Trump however. She doesn't give a shit.

I like her style in answering the questions. She moves her lips and the words come out to answer the question but everything else about her is saying, "Are you kidding me with the shit? Now here's the answer so you can GTFO."

I'd like to see her expel the next POS 'journalist' that tries to abuse her

have him/her/it forcibly removed by the Secret Service and have their credentials seized and left on her podium

that would be 'must see tv'

I love her, if I saw her on the street I'd probably give her a big 'ol hug...and I'm a total introvert.

I got to say, she's one of the best WH Press Secretaries in all the years I've been following politics. She drives the commie maggots nut.

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:

quote:

Originally posted by Elk Hunter:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
You don’t want to abridge the freedom of the press, but nothing says you can't criticize the press as severely as their antics warrant when they exercise it. Some might react by “speaking freely.”

Just like keeping and bearing arms, or sny other of these rights, if you abuse it, there are ramifications.

Yeah,but where is the part about press being accountable for the accuracy of their stories?!?

Are they exempt from libel/slander laws? Why are they not held accountable by their employers?

Press credentials should not equate to a license to steal.

The press is nearly exempt from libel and slander, especially when covering public figures, public newsworthy issues. One must show actual malice, requiring “that the plaintiff in a defamation or libel case, if that person is a public figure, prove that the publisher of the statement in question knew that the statement was false or acted in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity. Because of the extremely high burden of proof on the plaintiff, and the difficulty of proving the defendant's knowledge and intentions, such claims by public figures rarely prevail.” Wikipedia, New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.

Time to pass a new law than, one as important as immigration to keep the Commies from committing any further atrocities on the air or on paper.

quote:

Originally posted by nhtagmember:
doesn't their history of bias and lying, collusion with each other, and the democrats meet the definition of malice?

Nope. See my post above, “One must show...”

The opinion explains how all this fits together, First Amendment etc.

I like her

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is plenty tough and she keeps her cool while dealing with a room packed with unruly kindergartners. I don't think we could do any better than her.

Also, the shameless way the leftists ridicule her appearance is the apex of hypocrisy. Here we have a woman in a prominent position, essentially a spokesman I SAID SPOKESMAN for the President of the United States and all these puerile hypocrites can do is make fun of her looks and her manner of dress. This is perfectly illustrative of why we refrain in this forum from ridiculing the appearance of others. I'll not be like these people and I'll not associate with anyone like these people.

I don't have any idea what Sarah Huckabee Sanders gets paid, but it is nowhere near what she is worth! She is the perfect person for the job!

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I am amazed at how sexist, mean and downright misogynistic the MSM/Left is to Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Apparently it's OK to make fun of appearance and weight if you are a woman who works for President Trump, but these same people are seething with rage if anyone on the conservative side were to do the same for a liberal woman.

The double standard is just sickening.

"A slightly chunky soccer mom"

A skit on Chelsea Handler's Netflix show, Chelsea, mocks Sarah Huckabee Sanders' appearance in a parody makeup tutorial.

Without double standards, they'd have no standards at all.

quote:

Originally posted by Hawgster:
I don't have any idea what Sarah Huckabee Sanders gets paid, but it is nowhere near what she is worth! She is the perfect person for the job!

I think it's 165k but maybe 175k now. Not enough for the shit she puts up with from the dumbass crowd.