Obama Hand Picks Which Journalists are Allowed to Ask Him Questions

 When you are as image conscious as president-elect Obama appears to be at what length will you go to keep that image undisturbed?

 The press is realizing more and more that Barack Obama is using them, or at least some of them, to protect his image. It should come as no surprise when you read this article that Barack Obama is hand picking which reporters he will take questions from after he concludes his press conferences.

 According to Sun-Times columnist and long-time Chicago journalist, Carol Marin, journalists at Barack Obama news conferences have come to realize that Obama has pre-picked those journalists whom he will allow to ask him questions at the conference and many of them now “don’t even bother raising” their hands to be called upon.

  As I wrote above, this should not surprise anyone that is paying attention. Let’s examine his record with the press, and I’m not even talking about him being in favor of re-instituting the fairness doctrine this time.

1.   Obama’s staff already threatened television stations with revocation of their FCC licenses when they spoke ill of him during the campaign.
2. OBama has already thrown reporters off of his plane because they wrote articles for newspapers that he doesn’ like.
3. Obama has sent out truth squads to harass people who ran television ads that he did not approve of.
4. An anti-Obama writer already been detained in Kenya suspiciously while he was on his way to a press conference.
5. Obama’s campaign harassed a radio station that was critical of him

 So as you can see Barack Obama is running a tight ship when it come to press availability.

 The article then askes several good questions:

One wonders why journalists are allowing this corralling of the press? Would they have allowed George W. Bush to pre-pick journalists like that? Would they meekly sit by and allow themselves to be systematically ignored, their freedom to ask questions silenced by any Republican? Would journalists so eagerly vie with one another for the favor of Bush like they are Obama’s?

 We know the answers to all of those questions, don’t we? The media is totally in the tank for the president-elect, so much so that they can even overlook the fact that most of them are not even allowed to ask the anointed one a question. As long as they can hear him speak they are happy.

One has a sinking suspicion that the press is allowing itself to become Obama’s lapdog extraordinaire.

 Now that may be the understatement of the century. If it wasn’t for the media’s schoolgirl like crush on Obama and their coddling of him, Hillary Clinton would probably be less than a week away from the presidency.

 As Barack Obama picks and chooses which reporters can ask him questions and which ones can’t one has to wonder the following; if Obama chooses who can speak to him does he also choose what they can ask him?

 I don’t think it is out of the question that he could possibly be feeding questions to the ever so willing media to assure that he is always painted in a good light.

 Bill Clinton was a master at public perception, manipulation, and public relations, and it appears that Barack Obama may have learned a great deal from the former president.