NY Times: And How Does Bo LIke The White House, Mr. President?

by tristero

Ok, Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times didn’t ask how the First Dog was adjusting to his new home, But that’s only because he wasn’t allowed a follow-up to this idiotic question:

Jeff Zeleny.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.

During these first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office, enchanted you the most about serving in this office, humbled you the most and troubled you the most?

MR. OBAMA: Let me write this down. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Surprised.

MR. OBAMA: All right. I’ve got —

QUESTION: Troubled.

MR. OBAMA: I’ve got — what was the first one?

QUESTION: Surprised.

MR. OBAMA: Surprised.

QUESTION: Troubled.

MR. OBAMA: Troubled.

QUESTION: Enchanted.

MR. OBAMA: Enchanted. Nice. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: And humbled.

MR. OBAMA: And what was the last one, humbled?

QUESTION: Humbled.

Thank you, sir.

And as of this morning, Jeff Zeleny still has a job.

It’s important to note the context of this question. For the most part – although perhaps Digby and dday disagree – the questions were substantive. Some were bad-Republican-idea questions – like whether the border should be closed to help prevent the SWINE flu from spreading – but most were serious, from concerns about Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal to the disproportionate impact the financial crises are having on African-American and Hispanic-American communities. One reporter even got Obama to repeat that waterboarding is torture.

But in his article (with Helene Cooper) Zeleny even missed the importance of the torture discussion, concluding:

He offered no shift, however, in his opposition to an independent inquiry into the Bush administration’s policies on the interrogation of terror suspects.

On the contrary, by not bringing it up when he easily could have, Obama appeared to signal a softening in his opposition.

Bill, Jill: Fire ‘im.