The website FishbowlDC, which covers Washington’s political journalists, did a story Monday on a post I did in White House Dossier the same day about what looked like payback by the White House against the Washington Post for doing a tough story about Obama.
FishbowlDC’s Betsy Rothstein – a great reporter unafraid to piss off the Washington Journalism Establishment & Fraternity that she covers – picked up on a line in my piece in which I said that the Washington Post reporter, in addition to being denied a leak ladled out to his competitors, probably “got the full fusillade of profanity-laced fake fury from the White House press office.”
She asked me if I had ever been on the receiving end of such sweetness from the Hope & Change crew. I had. I thought you might like to see the quote I gave her, which she included in her piece. From her article:
Koffler: “I was on the receiving end of profane verbal abuse from White House press aides over stories they didn’t like several times during my coverage of the Obama campaign and Obama White House for Roll Call from about mid-2008 until January 2010,” he said. “But I understand from others the practice continues, with the most recent public example being the nasty treatment of CBS reporter Sharyl Attkisson for her reporting on possible perjury by Eric Holder in testimony about the Fast and Furious case.
“I didn’t mind it personally because I understood it was a tactic to intimidate. Some of it was funny. One told me, ‘You’re really going to win a fucking Pulitzer Prize for this one.’ Another, less funny, remarked that my article was ‘horseshit,’ demanding to know sources.
“What really angered me is that this is ultimately suppression of speech. They are clearly trained to attack reporters, and it’s a strategy designed to keep journalists from uncovering facts and reporting the news. This from the ‘openness’ administration. And reporters are in a bind because they need to have good relations with the press office in order to get information that might otherwise go to competitors, which might obviously invite some nasty comments from their editors.”
32 thoughts on “The West Wing Bullies”
Bravo for speaking out Keith. You will probably never get another invite to an Obama soiree, but you did the right thing. If only other journalists would do the same. Sunlight is the best disinfectant for these cockroaches. They are Alinskyites, carrying out their twisted ideology — ‘Pick the Target, Freeze It, Personalize It and Polarize It.’
Alinskyites, carrying out their twisted ideology — ‘Pick the Target, Freeze It, Personalize It and Polarize It.’
They’ve done the same thing to Eric Cantor but you failed to defend him. His reactions, which you criticize, is the result of not having been exposed to these Alinsky tactics before this administration. He is an awesome representative and has my vote in 2012. He has the best offices and staff that I have been exposed to. I agree that he should have spoken out on some of the issues that you and Srdem pointed out. But, he’s attempting to get some things done facing a hostile Senate and president. He may not toe the Tea Party line, but, he is a conservative and a great representative for the 7th Virginia.
I praised Cantor when he had the bravery to stand up to the progressives. Where he lost me was when he lost his courage of conviction and walked his statements back. Boehner should come out and stand up for his majority leader, but he won’t. He is still hiding behind the curtains because he is afraid of the progressives or he’s one of them. Not sure which. I believe Eric Cantor is a good man, just lacking intestinal fortitude. It is not easy to stand up to these people, as Sarah Palin and now Keith can attest.
Good for you Keith, hang in there shipmate.
I got your back Keith. Good work my man.
Don’t worry,soon all the White House press pool will be asking questions to a video monitor. Maybe then some will realize they should have asked been more investigative like real reporters named Keith Koffler.
By the way, didn’t the EPA put rags like The Washington Compost New York Slimes, etc. on the endangered list.
“I didn’t mind it personally because I understood it was a tactic to intimidate. Some of it was funny. One told me, ‘You’re really going to win a fucking Pulitzer Prize for this one.’ Another, less funny, remarked that my article was ‘horseshit,’ demanding to know sources.
Gees, did they all graduate Rahm Emmanuel Charm School? : )
Oh, yeah–scholarships all around.
I believe they were specifically trained to do this.
If other reporters did more investigating and real reporting maybe these tactics would fail. Then America might begin to get the real story of what’s going on in this WH. Thank you Keith!
It really is the Obama White House “propaganda corps”…
Yay Keith!!!!!
Keith, have I mentioned that I appreciate what you do?
Thanks.
Sorry for being analytical, but being a ‘Techie’….I have to ask when we will see your response to this BS about the Top 1% having this ‘outrageous’ *275% growth rate over 30 years*.
This comes down to a compounded 3.5% increase per year.
Ah, what’s ‘outrageous’ about a 3.5% per annum increase in their income?
The bigger question is ‘why did the bottom 40%’ not grow as fast.
Could it be education, skills, reliance on entitlemensts, or suply and demand of these educated/skilled people?
And, lastly, it just seems very coordinated, and timely, for this info to come out while BHO is pushing for his other ‘jobs stimulus’ program.
I think the bottom 40% are probably content with their income and are not willing to take the risk of putting their money into investing..
I’m sure if they knew they would get their money back they would. But that is not how a free market works.
And You are mistaken if you think the WHD has to respond to accusations of bias.
Yes, Techie! I immediately thought of the decline of public education and entitlement mentality under the liberal mantra over the last 30 years. Also the lack of work ethic in general and the “we are all winners” fostered in schools.
I am amazed how very poor service, etc. is these days with the younger generation and their lack of education/critical thinking/people skills.
And just read the comments from Libs! The grammar and spelling?? You gotta be kidding me.
One more tidbit. The cumulative inflation in the U.S. over the same 30 year period (’75-’05) was —-> 266%
From the way this is reported, it sounds like these groups are stagnant and there is no movement. Some of the bottom slow growers have moved to the middle or perhaps even to the….TOP. So then there are NEW bottom slow growers.
No one has corralled the bottom slow growers and kept them from advancing. Yet.
Brenda – good point. Would like to see stats on where the bottom 40 percent went as opposed to the overall condition of the bottom 40 percent. Obama & Michelle are saying there’s no opportunity anymore. It’s not true
You know, If I were in the bottom 10 or 20 percent, and I was on all kinds of assistance, I’d probably stay there too.
Uh, oh…..you’re really in trouble now, Keith :) Thanks for a great blog, though.
The Obama administration and its press office are very tech savvy, using “new media” to get their message out. However, they are also afraid of the new media because it is something that they have not yet been able to control.
The old established media outlets – newspapers, news mags, broadcast TV are much easier to control because the editors and owners are at the mercy of federal regulation and the pressure that can be exerted by the left and the administration on advertisers. Glenn Beck’s show on Fox was a good example of how the left and this administration will put pressure on advertisers to pull their dollars from a media outlet that reports on things the administration does not want reported on. To Beck’s credit, he told the money people to take a hike and started his own show on the Internet.
It is the blogosphere that really makes this administration’s skin crawl. People such as yourself that go out and find the stories and report on them in an open and minimalist environment are not going to be able to be controlled through advertising dollars.
Granted there will be people like Moulitsas and Huffington that will use the new media to shill for the Progressives, but many conservatives and libertarians are getting into the new media mainstream, and reporting on what is happening in an honest and open forum.
It will be interesting to see what happens in the future if the 99% groups and the left end up on the ropes. Will this administration shut down the internet in the name of national security? Will they go in and block blogs that do not kow-tow down to their particular brand of reporting? When Gore “invented” the internet I bet he never envisioned it being used as an information source to counter his side’s growing and dishonest ideologies.
Great point Shofar. Blogger don’t have the same backslapping relationship with those they cover.
Reporting is so passe’. Protecting the first black administration not only lets you cover the story but be a part of history. And whoa be unto you that stray. Ask Jason Mattera:
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/john-king-calls-out-jason-mattera-for-misrepresenting-himself-at-joe-biden-event/
Speaking of VPJOE “the boy who yelled rape” BIDEN: As the new guy at the Washington Post Writers Grp. I was asked to change my “Joe Biden Yells Rape” cartoon. The objection was I was tough on Joe and I had him reading to kids. O.K. maybe the kid angle was over the top but the man said you’d get raped if we didn’t hire MORE government workers.
The next day, oddly enough, the same newspaper Washington Post with whom I am affiliated ran a slam dunk fact checked story re: Biden “RAPE!!!” claim and found he was…a liar. I threw in the kids for effect.
It has become so evident under the administration of the divider in chief that conservative journalists aren’t allowed the same level of freedom of speech as the liberal press. Biden’s people are now trying to get Jason Mattera’s press credentials pulled. If they are successful, we will know that the Washington press corps is moshing in the same totalitarian pit as the rest of the crooked politicians.
Susan, where did you here they are trying to pull his credentials?
Thanks for sharing that link Mike.
Could those kids you drew actually hear the story and have bad dreams about it?
Trashing the first amendment comes just after the second and tenth for the WH goons
Keith – keep it up brother. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t check WHD at least once.
Thanks Rolley.
Isn’t it kind of fun to be on this crew’s list–so long as drones are not involved?
Thanks to all of you for your kind comments.
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