Monday, July 06, 2015

Hillary Clinton aides use rope to corral reporters during parade appearance.

Courtesy of ABC News:  

At the Fourth of July parade Hillary Clinton marched in Saturday in Gorham, New Hampshire, reporters following the candidate were kept -- and at moments, dragged -- behind an actual moving rope line. 

The rope, which two Clinton staffers held on to on either side, was meant to give Clinton space as she walked down the parade route, but photos of reporters being dragged behind the rope as she marched have gone viral on Twitter.

I saw this yesterday and have to admit that I was kind of shocked.

I mean it is one thing to have a roped off area for reporters to stand during an event, but quite another to use a rope to herd them down the street like cattle. 

Ultimately I am unable to really defend this action, and think it is really bad optics and not at all helpful to the Clinton campaign.

Does anybody else have a different opinion on this?

102 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:17 AM

    My very first thought was that it may have to do with a domestic terrorist threat. One never knows what exactly is going on behind the scenes.

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    1. Anonymous8:16 PM

      What I read is the reporters were kept away so Hillary could talk to the people, not just have to deal with paparazzi wannabes trying to get a juicy quote or shot. After all, Hillary depends on voters more than pushy media types. There was little likelihood of breaking news, why should reporters get all that face time?

      Delete
  2. Anonymous6:22 AM

    Maybe the photographers refused to stay corralled in one place.

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  3. Anonymous6:24 AM

    I think that reporters need to learn to give people a little space. Maybe having wrangled these reporters they will now know that they are not the center of attention. I think it's funny but I do agree that there will be major hysteria from the networks, especially Fox!
    Beaglemom

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    1. Cracklin Charlie7:16 AM

      I totally agree. It was a parade, not a campaign event. Why couldn't they stand along the parade route like the rest of the parade watchers?

      Who wants to see a bunch of photographers marching in their Fourth of July parade? Back off for one damned hour, guys!

      Delete
    2. hedgewytch7:22 AM

      I thought it was funny too. The reporters cause all sorts of delay and disruption, which they then try to spin for all its worth.

      And yes, I bet there are many, many credible threats against Ms. Clinton that has her security team's attention.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:47 AM

      it was a parade not a press event

      Delete
    4. Anonymous8:16 PM

      Exactly.

      Delete
  4. She is a psychopath. She can sometimes imitate what real people would do, but then there is the other 50% of the time.

    The only thing she has going for her is the group photograph of her likely Republican challengers.

    It is going to be a long year and a half.

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    1. Anonymous7:19 AM

      Please provide detailed clinical documentation for your claim that she is a psychopath. I am not a big Clinton fan but if she gets the nomination I do plan to vote for her. But your personal knowledge of her behavior could change my mind, if you will share it in more detail than a blanket statement without proof.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:02 AM

      Who, Sarah? Well you're right there honey, bless your heart.

      Delete
    3. That's hilarious 7:19. This site is notorious for diagnosing the Palins with all sort of mental diseases. How about producing the paperwork for those diagnosis. You're being a little hypocritical aren't you.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous9:48 AM

      Yes. I agree and request that you give us any information you have to support your statements. It would be a great help.
      Thanks

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:41 AM

      9:05
      Here's the difference. Hilary always appears well-dressed and well-informed. She speaks coherently and itelligently extemporaneously on many subjects. She always has an aura of classiness. If she is an alleged psychopath, we need proof of some kind because psychopathic behavior is not readily seen in her.

      Palin on the other hand looks disheveled and poorly dressed much of the time. She can't speak coherently off script. Her public behavior and verbal spewing screams mental illness and drug use. We can actually witness the psychopathic behavior in Palin. See the difference?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous12:02 PM

      DGM9:05 AM - Notorious? lol. Sarah Palin shows almost every sign for almost every personality disorder known to man. This is easily demonstrated. Can you please explain to us what signs Hillary displays?

      Delete
    7. Are you asking me whether I have a copy of her medical records?

      Look, you know I'm right. You're just afraid to admit it because there's so much riding on the next election. Democrats have been told for so long that she is unbeatable that they are going to whistle past the graveyard and right into a loss next year.

      This pains me, but the kneejerk defensiveness and name-calling I'm seeing at my calling it like it is shows me how much you're in denial about how utterly unlikable Mrs. Clinton is. By all means, get mad at the fellow liberals warning you about it.

      Delete
    8. Anonymous12:34 PM

      If she has no chance to win, then why the fuck do you care? And I know you THINK you're right, righties always do. Doesn't make it so. Name the lunatic in the GOP freak show that's gonna beat her. You can't. The whole lineup is a fucking joke. Talk about psychopaths!

      Delete
    9. 12:34: I care because the repercussions of a Republican win are too horrible to even consider. Ruther Bader Ginsberg is 82 years old and every Republican candidate appears dead set on repealing my health care and invading Iran their first day in office.

      Delete
    10. Anonymous1:34 PM

      Katy is right, unfortunately.

      Delete
    11. Anonymous1:49 PM

      Katy Anders12:58 PM -

      it won't happen. America is sick of Repub bullshit. Hillary doesn't have to be likable to be the President, just qualified. And she beats the pants off of everyone on the GOP side in that respect. This is inarguable, even the right knows it, Don't sweat it. As for her personality, she's a hell of a lot more likable than the true psychopaths on the right. Remember how badly they showed their asses in '12? It will only get worse once the debates get into full swing. How low will they go this time? I can't wait to see.

      Delete
    12. Anonymous2:17 PM

      Katy Anders What a fraud you are!

      I don't normally do pop politics, so when Hillary Clinton asked me of she could guest blog at FASCIST DYKE MOTORS, I was flattered but skeptical. Honestly, though, she makes some really good points here. It's like she's looking right into the darkest corners of my brain. 

      http://www.fascistdykemotors.com/2015/06/i-rodham.html

      https://plus.google.com/103241458741745376938/posts

      Delete
    13. @2:17: I'm glad you bring that up, because it looks like Hillary Clinton herself was agreeing with me there. I mean, her words!

      Delete
    14. Anonymous8:20 PM

      Wow Katy,

      Project much? And Bernie is gaining steam. Provide two examples of Hillary's psycho behavior. If you can.

      Delete
    15. I'm not sure that you know what "project" means, because t it wouldn't really apply here under any circumstances.

      What's interesting to me is that you took my criticism of a Presidential candidate (and a fairly modest criticism at that) and became so defensive that you felt the need to turn it around and make it personal.

      I'm sorry you did that because I had a longer reply prepared, but the personal attack on me as a commenter made me realize the futilityy of trying to talk with an anonymous stranger who has already made things so personal.

      Have a great day and I hope that someday we can have a political discussion.

      Delete
    16. Anonymous5:54 AM

      No Katy,

      When you start out by calling Hillary a psychopath - even if your Bill Frist in real life - you are not someone I consider to live in a reality-based world. Keep you hateful delusions to yourself. As to making things personal - you consider yourself to be a confidant of Hillary?

      Delete
    17. And you again respond to my criticism of a Presidential candidate by attacking me personally.

      I will not reply in kind.

      Good luck to you and let me know if you ever understand what you did here.

      Delete
  5. I remember a very similar thing happening during Bill Clinton's presidency. Talk about déjà vu

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  6. Anonymous6:38 AM

    Hillary does not have Bill's political savvy. That was apparent in 2008. She started out this go round making the same mistakes made in '08.

    Answer as many of the reporters' questions as reasonably possible. Do not carry yourself as if the election is a forgone conclusion - you are not the POTUS. Ask people for their vote. All politics is local....

    ReplyDelete
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    1. A Superfan In Atlanta6:40 AM

      My sentiments exactly!

      Delete
    2. anonymous in iowa9:14 AM

      She started out this go round making the same mistakes made in '08.

      lol

      I had a front row view in 2007 and on caucus night 2008. Barack Obama wasn't my first choice for 2008 but Hillary was last on my list. I wasn't the only Iowa Caucus voter that thought Hillary was probably unelectable in 2008.

      Her campaign in Iowa in 2007 was run top to bottom by all the usual highly paid outside consultants and Washington DC worker bees. They didn't do squat on the ground in Iowa for many months. The only other significant campaign was the Obama self built machine and it had already steamrollered over Hillary by the Fourth of July 2007. The Obama 2008 organizing and motivated volunteers were the difference that Hillary's money and robocalls and postcard junk mailers could not overcome. The buzz was deafening by the end of the summer IF you were paying attention. The only people not realizing this were Hillary 2008 and most of the lamestream media.

      Now here we are in 2015, and this time Hillary is probably electable in my opinion (and this is partly due to Sarah being on the ticket in 2008.) It depends who the Republicans nominate, but she could probably beat most of the clowncar...

      Whoops, here comes Bernie Saunders and let me tell you that Hillary has already lost the Iowa caucuses to Bernie Sanders! Partly because Bernie isn't another Hillary, and partly because Hillary (the anointed one) would not organize her campaign like Obama 2008. Hillary didn't but Bernie now has lots of motivated volunteers taking care of business for him. For free. Hillary can't buy what she needs to win in Iowa. Again.

      One more thing. Want to beat the Republican money and noise machine in 2016? Lots of motivated volunteers talking to everyone they know...got better idea? Want to elect good Dems in the US House and Senate? How about electing some more good Dems in your state legislature? Lots of motivated volunteers is probably the way to do it.


      I believe Bernie understands this concept much better than Hillary.

      A month ago I was wondering what Bernie was going to get organized. Not anymore.



      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:22 PM

      You think $arah helped get Hillary on the ticket? What color is the sky in your universe?

      Delete
  7. Anonymous6:38 AM

    I agree with you, Gryphen. I think the Democrats need to rethink her candidacy. The Sidney Blumenthal stuff being revealed in her emails is very telling too.

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    1. Anonymous12:41 PM

      "The Sidney Blumenthal stuff being revealed in her emails is very telling too".

      Do you have a comprehension problem? Or watch Fox Noise? Find someone with a bit more book lar'ning that you to explain the facts.

      Are you referring to the bogus report by Politico?

      Rep Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, sent a letter to Chairman Trey Gowdy warning him about someone leaking doctored information to the press in order to make unsubstantiated allegations against Clinton.

      Politico relied on a source that provided misleading information that was cut from several e-mails and pasted into a document for a specific partisan agenda in mind.

      http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/06/democrats-bust-republicans-press-phony-benghazi-emails.html via @politicususa

      http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show

      So many lazy, whining members of the media can’t be bothered with fact-checking and are only interested in the pablum fed to them by republicans.

      These excuses for journalists are just amateurs, dilettantes and w*&es.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:23 PM

      Thank you, Sammy. People who hate Hillary will continue to do so, regardless of any facts.

      Delete
  8. Anonymous6:39 AM

    I'm sure the RW noise machine will have a field day with this (C4P is already huffing in indignation); the "deep benchers" will probably also clutch their pearls and complain, while secretly trying to figure out how they, too, can get away with doing the same thing to any non-Fox press reps.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous6:44 AM

    Having been in crowds where photographers and reporters muscled and pushed and shoved me out of a good viewing point I had been waiting my turn in for hours, I get the reasoning. but unlike the kettling law enforcement uses against protesters they won't help against these news bullies.

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  10. Anonymous6:51 AM

    I'm not surprise, this is typical Clintons, I could say more but I won't. #FeelTheBern

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    1. Anonymous8:29 AM

      Actually I met President Clinton up close 3 times. But then there wasn't a throng of reporters in my way.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:58 AM

      ...Word of a potential thaw in the strained relations between Clinton and the press came just a day after things seemed to reach a new low. On Saturday, journalists covering Clinton at a New Hampshire parade were corralled with rope. On Twitter, humiliating photos showed the campaign’s strong-arm tactics with the media -- on Independence Day, no less.

      There have been tensions for months between the campaign and reporters, who have leveled complaints about lack of access to Clinton on the trail. Last month, the campaign caused a minor uproar when it barred a designated pool reporter from an event in New Hampshire -- a move that the Clinton traveling press pool, which consists of reporters from 14 major news organizations, later called "unacceptable." The move was never fully explained.

      There's also the long-running issue of Clinton rarely taking questions from the media since becoming a candidate, in stark contrast to the various Republican hopefuls and to her biggest challenger on the Democratic side, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt).

      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/06/hillary-clinton-interviews_n_7734372.html

      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:24 PM

      I thought the reporter not allowed at the event was someone who wrote a nasty piece about Hillary. Why should she grant access to vipers?

      Delete
  11. Anonymous6:51 AM

    Totally agree here that it is bad optics and bad for the Clinton campaign. This gives the impression that Hillary's staff are the presumptuous pompous types (like the Palin staff) who dote and pamper their queen. It gives a diva impression.

    Hillary, having the advantage of being First Lady of Arkansas and the White House, and U.S. Senator, Head of State., may have to forfeit the privileges she once had and act like the 'little people' she hopes to represent. She may have to tone down the lofty image a bit.

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    1. Anonymous11:16 AM

      Yep. What 6:51 said.

      Delete
  12. Anonymous6:58 AM

    Hillary is definitely a diva, and she doesn't have the finesse with people that her husband does. That said, I think she's more qualified to be president than Bernie Sanders, and absolutely a better choice than anyone on the Republican side. I just hope she learns some populism skillz from Bernie, and I seriously think she should consider Bernie for VP. He will temper her ego and make some real waves in the Senate.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous11:44 AM

      New York loved her when she was their senator.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:46 AM

      Hillary/Bernie would be UNBEATABLE!!

      Delete
  13. Anonymous7:03 AM

    Hillary will be our next POTUS. Thank God. Deal with it.

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    1. Anonymous8:24 AM

      YES.
      Start getting used to rope lines (actually very old-fashioned) used to control a disrespectful press (and it's gotten worse since President Obamas's second election).
      If that troubles you, you need to think about
      'Why has the papparazzi become so bold and strident?',
      NOT
      'Why is Hillary pushing back?'.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:59 AM

      8:24, great comment!!

      Delete
  14. Anonymous7:14 AM

    No, I agree with you. But this shouldn't surprise anyone who has been paying attention to Hillary for any length of time. Everything she does publicly is stage managed to an insane degree. It really makes me wonder why she wants to hold a public office at all. She certainly doesn't want to run for one. Every public appearance comes across as so fake.

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    1. Anonymous8:21 AM

      Agree

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:45 AM

      I don't agree.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous8:26 PM

      7:14 Exactly how many of her events have you been at? Just reading stuff on the internet is NOT the same.

      Delete
  15. Anonymous7:14 AM

    I guess if she gets elected she'll recruit her secret service staff from the rodeo?

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    1. Anonymous8:17 AM

      Well, given our current USSS, it could be an improvement! LOL

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8:31 AM

      Probably be a great improvement.

      BTW the press has no right to disrupt a parade event, ifthe local police force had been doing their job her aides wouldn't have had to do so.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous9:04 AM

      Exactly. It was not a press event it was a public event, a parade.

      Delete
  16. Raz Lemons7:18 AM

    If Hillary gets the nod I will vote for her, But right now my donations, time and effort are with Bernie, The man has been honest to a fault over the years and he has never failed to point out the error of our ways and he's never been wrong !

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    1. Anonymous8:33 AM

      I agree with you 100%! Bernie has my vote, but whoever gets nominated after the Primaries will get my vote. DEFINITELY NO RETHUGS!!!

      Delete
  17. Anonymous7:24 AM

    It looks bad, but I kinda don't and can't blame her. And it's kind of funny how the press allows itself to be treated this way, when Clinton needs them more than they need her.

    Even if I were outraged, it wouldn't affect my intention to vote for her if she gets the nom this time.

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    1. Anonymous8:55 AM

      "Clinton needs them more than they need her"

      uhm... WHAT?!
      Are you living in the U.S.?
      Have you READ a newpaper,
      or just "any of 'em, ALL of 'em"?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:45 AM

      Hillary doesn't need the press. They lie about her constantly.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous6:01 PM

      I have to agree--- allowing reporters to follow along the candidate in a moving line... how else would you keep them from trampling the candidate or holding up the parade? I don't imagine a professional journalist would have any issues with respecting the boundaries put in place for the safety and well being of everyone-- but to push back against the safety zone around a candidate? That seems like a bullshit, desperate paparazzi move.

      Delete
  18. Pat in MA7:29 AM

    The press is paparazzi-ish at times. I think the people along the parade route should have priority access to Hillary, not the gaggle of media tripping over each other to stick a camera in her face.

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    1. Anonymous9:05 AM

      I agree.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:02 AM

      I agree as well.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous12:46 PM

      I also agree. They only want to embarrass her.

      Delete
  19. Next time she could have the press on leashes. And wear a black leather pantsuit.

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    1. Anonymous9:23 AM

      Good one!!!!!!!!!! Everything is always about sex....

      Delete
  20. Anonymous7:49 AM

    go to an event and see how the press act and you will understand why she has been keeping them away from her. i met her 20 years ago ad the press were trampling people to get to the front of the line. we have 490 days to the election. she is trying to meet people one on one as much as she can. the press will certainly get their turn. and honestly the way the press treats her i wouldnt give them any access. why do they need to be so close? so they can report how bad her pantsuit was?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous8:18 AM

    I think Hillary is running because she wants to be the first female president and she knows she has the best opportunity to do that now so she will run and also keep status quo in Washington, regardless of what is best for this country. Unfortunately she is a very moderate /conservative democrat. She is a warhawk. The biggest thing that concerns me about her, are her actions in selling or brokering the selling of weapons, including biological and chemical weapons to various countries for their contributions of over $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. None of those countries needed chemical/biological weaponry. Hillary is an elitist. She really can't relate to the middle class, even when she tries, it is so out of whack.....like saying in an interview, she understood what it was like to be poor, because they were totally broke when they left the White House, knowing they each had millions coming through many doors. She is supported by Chase Bank (Jaime Dimond head of chase who should be in prison now) and wall street because she is a corportist. She is a corportist psychopath, which means she does what is in her best interest while playing it off for the good of the people, the country, etc....knowing how she will also benefit as will her cronies. Bill Clinton is also one, but he knows and loves his position with people, he loves to be adored so mixes with the crowds. Hillary loves to be watched and like sarah, she mixes with the crowd but get her out asap. She is not a real people's person. Bernie Sanders is the only democrat that will make the changes we need in this country that will help the middle class and if we don't get out and work for him, this opportunity may pass us up in our lifetime. Hillary's people know this and they are beginning the attacks on him. It is disgusting to see. She and her team fears Bernie, because they know he is real and may be his time to change the direction but she can't pass up on her only chance to secure the presidency so she makes history with first woman thing. As a woman, I am not into that, I want the best person for this country, now for middle class america, we need Bernie to win this election. There are no others this time...but in looking out at Warren, she should be the first. She has earned it, not Hillary. Elizabeth has taken on the republicans, and said the things that needed to be said to wall street, etc. Not Hillary....she is not alienating her big donors...she owes them.....Hillary is not the first female president I want for this country. Elizabeth warren is and right now bernie sanders is paving the way...Support him and let Warren follow behind securing the next 8 yrs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When you write a screed that covers several topics, there's a little thing called a paragraph that'd make it easier for readers to follow your meandering thoughts.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous9:10 AM

      This is what is wrong with the left. It's great to be idealistic and self critical, we we are our own worst enemies. We are much harder on our candidates than the right. I like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. But Hillary is neither as evil as people say nor as great as people say. The truth is somewhere in the middle. She is not perfect.

      People like you tend to idealistically expect perfection from their candidates and then at the first hint of a flaw they abandon them. Just look at what happened to President Obama. The man has delivered a lot of what he promised, with astounding opposition and virtually no support from his own party.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous9:12 AM

      If Bernie Sanders became President, you would abandon him at the first instance that he didn't deliver something taht the left wanted.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:04 AM

      9:10, I agree 100%

      Thanks for your comment.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous1:41 PM

      KaJo, paragraphs aside, what do you have to say about the content of the comment?

      Delete
    6. Anonymous8:30 PM

      1:41 There's nothing to say, KaJo is right, that run-on screed is just the author meandering, saying anything hateful s/he can.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous8:21 AM

    The press is out of control. They tend to try to make the news rather than report the news.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous9:06 AM

      They have since Hunter S. Thompson. Sorry for those who love the guy, but he helped pave the way of today's press inserting themselves into the news and making it all about them.

      Delete
  23. Anonymous8:25 AM

    Try to put yourself in her shoes. What were the other options here to give the candidate some space in a moving parade?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous8:27 AM

    Well, visually maybe a faux pas, but to me, it looks like this guy was in the way of her advancing, and I guess he knew about the rope, and didn't move fast enough.
    No big deal, but the RePukes will have a feast of this.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous8:31 AM

    NONE of us for one moment should forget how not up to the task the Secret Service is. It is prudent to take things into your own hands if you are a candidate. How many serious breaches does there have to be before citizens understand that the Secret Service is in serious disarray and struggling just to keep whackos out of the White House and off the White House lawn? The one in charge couldn't even work the lock on the damned front and didn't bother to ask for help to do it.

    None of us have any idea what is going on inside the campaign but review your history when she ran last time. Safety first!!!

    If you have never tried to control a huge unruly crowd then don't try to second guess what is going on here.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous8:34 AM

    Where were the local police? Shouldn't they have been keeping these reporters from disrupting the parade? I have never been to a parade in any size town/village/or city that didn't have a local police force there to control people along the parade lines.
    Much ado about nothing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:07 AM

      Flash back a few days to the parade of those big truck driving down some idiot southern street sporting the confederate flag while the cops protecting their right of way.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:42 AM

      You mean the one where they turned it into a demolition derby?

      Delete
  27. Anonymous8:47 AM

    I would not allow myself to be kettled like a kindergarten group visiting the zoo. If reporters agreed to this treatment then it's their problem.

    There is an element of the macabre in this kind of dogging Hilary Clinton (and eventually whoever is the GOP nominee). Whenever they are out in public, there is a possibility of an attempt on their life. The photographers are hoping for either a faux pas photo or a last moment of life photo. This isn't so much the photographers fault as the a reflection of the random violence we all live with here in the exceptional USA.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Anonymous12:51 PM

      So many of these lazy, whining members of the media are only interested in looking for some way to take Mrs. Clinton down.

      Delete
  28. Anonymous9:05 AM

    CNN’s Sally Kohn Cringes at Hillary Campaign Roping Reporters: ‘This Is Awful!’

    Liberal CNN contributor Sally Kohn went off on the Hillary Clinton campaign for the terrible optics of dragging the press by a rope during a recent parade, calling it “awful” and a “literal nightmare.”

    Kohn literally face-palmed as the CNN Newsroom discussion turned to the incident. “Sally, you’re cringing I can tell,” noted host Ana Cabrera.

    “This is awful! It’s just awful!” Kohn said. “It was like, the optics of it, I mean it took press wrangling to a whole new level, right? There’s a sort of rhetoric in campaigns of you wrangle the press, you corral the press. This just went a step too far.”

    “Did no one think in this day and age, in a world that is visual, where Snapchat and Instagram and all these things, these things can go immediately — not to mention these people are actually obviously holding television cameras– that this would be a metaphorical and visual and literal nightmare?” she asked.

    “It is a problem. And look, I’m not a big fan of the Hillary campaign nor Hillary Clinton as a candidate per se…” Kohn admitted. “But they also are their own worst enemies. She is a seasoned politician, she should be able to defend herself to the press.”

    Watch, via CNN:

    http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnns-sally-kohn-cringes-at-hillary-campaign-roping-reporters-this-is-awful/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:30 AM

      The optics? The OPTICS? Holy crap! The optics is what the press create when they decide what to photograph and what to comment on. The press should turn the lens on itself. These same people are the ones who let us go to war in Iraq because they didn't do their jobs.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:31 AM

      The press should stop worrying about the optics and worry about the substance.

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:42 AM

      I assume these cameramen want to be as close to her as they could get. Now, do you turn them loose on the sidewalks crowded with people and kids trying to watch a parade (and maybe shake her hand?) and see someone get whacked with a camera? Do you give them a choice? Stay in ONE place, or follow along, little dogies. They chose to follow her and I do not think it is anything but grandstanding for the right to jump on it. Geez, Trump just said Jeb's wife is illegal.

      Delete
  29. Anonymous9:16 AM

    Hillary Clinton’s campaign director on Monday hit back at claims that the Democratic frontrunner’s campaign has the press on too short a leash.

    “So we try to allow as much access as possible, but my view is, it can’t get in the way of her being able to campaign, right?” Jennifer Palmieri said during a roundtable discussion on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

    In the latest episode to raise the media’s hackles, campaign aides roped off reporters following Clinton as she walked and talked with voters during a New Hampshire parade on Saturday.

    Palmieri, while noting she was not there, said that another option would have been to put reporters on predesignated locations throughout the parade route. That, she said, would not have been better.

    “Our imperative in our campaign is just different than it is for other candidates,” she added, noting that the press is important, though not as important as the voters with whom Clinton is interacting. Palmieri acknowledged that “we pay a price with the press when we don’t do interviews and we do do smaller events.”

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/hillary-clinton-jennifer-palmieri-press-access-119760.html#ixzz3f8HFFVSj

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous9:23 AM

    I would do the same thing were I Hillary. The press followers are rude and ask stupid questions the majority of the time. I'm surprised other candidates don't do the same thing, but then they are in the Republican clown car!

    Hillary is campaigning in a smart way - meeting individually with Americans. She is getting direct content from them - far better than what the Republicans are doing!

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous9:38 AM

    Hillary Clinton’s communications director Jennifer Palmieri was barraged with difficult questions during a Monday appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, including questions about the embarrassing images of reporters being strung along by a rope during Clinton’s appearance in a parade.

    “What do you think? Is that future of presidential presence?” asked host Joe Scarborough.

    “What happened here?” added co-host Willie Geist.

    “So I think that, you know, here’s – it’s a good time to talk about our theory on press access and the campaign,” Palmieri said.

    Scarborough erupted into laughter. “Yes, it is.”

    “So we’re trying to allow as much access as possible, but my view is it can’t get in the way of her being able to campaign, right?” she continued. “…what we tried here was– you could do a thing where you preset press along the way. And we said, ‘Let’s let them just be open,’ that’s how we did in other parades, and see what happens. I wasn’t there, I saw some press reports that described it as chaotic. And so they put the rope up… so the parade could continue and she could talk to voters.”

    http://www.mediaite.com/tv/hillary-comms-director-struggles-to-explain-roping-off-reporters-to-msnbc/

    ReplyDelete
  32. Anonymous9:43 AM

    The press hasn’t learned yet, apparently. On Monday July 6th, Democrats busted Republicans for leaking yet another fake Benghazi email story to the press. They titled their press release, “Politico Ran Bogus Leak in Front-Page Story.”

    Representative Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, sent a letter to Chairman Trey Gowdy warning, “it now appears that someone who was given access to the Select Committee’s documents leaked doctored information to the press in order to make unsubstantiated allegations against Secretary Clinton.”

    Oh, gee. This is so new, how could anyone in the press have known to be on the look out for total fabrications based on emails they were not allowed to see but had to take the word of a Republican on? I mean, it only happened in a huge scandal revealed on May 14, 2013 when CNN’s Jake Tapper discovered that the Benghazi emails reported by ABC’s Jonathan Karl had been edited to make Obama look bad. Karl had written that these emails had been reviewed by ABC. But it turns out that wasn’t true. The emails were basically looked at by a Republican who handed their notes to Karl, who reported them as if he had read them himself.

    Jonathan Karl and ABC tried that same trick a year later, but got busted.

    This leads us to today, where just as predicted on these pages, Republicans have nothing on Secretary Hillary Clinton and they can’t beat her in a fight for the White House based on policy or platforms, so they are going to keep making stuff up. This is why Democrats had to bust Republicans on June 17 of this year after they refused to release the full Blumenthal transcripts.

    Here’s the letter sent by Rep. Cummings to Rep. Gowdy:

    http://www.politicususa.com/2015/07/06/democrats-bust-republicans-press-phony-benghazi-emails.html

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous10:25 AM

    I have no problem with roping in reporters and camera people. They are obnoxious and seem to have some kind of entitlement attitude. The particular picture shown is a photographer being stupid. He knew how that photo would look and deliberately stood still as the rope was moving. Good for the Clinton campaign.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Anonymous10:56 AM

    Clinton Reporter Explains The Media's Unspoken Rules For Covering Hillary

    The Clinton rules are driven by reporters' and editors' desire to score the ultimate prize in contemporary journalism: the scoop that brings down Hillary Clinton and her family's political empire. At least in that way, Republicans and the media have a common interest.

    http://crooksandliars.com/2015/07/clinton-reporter-explains-medias-unspoken

    Confessions of a Clinton reporter: The media's 5 unspoken rules for covering Hillary

    ...But the easier way to do that — proven over time — is to write as though the Clintons are the purest form of evil. The same holds for daily reporting. Want to drive traffic to a website? Write something nasty about a Clinton, particularly Hillary.

    As a reporter, I get sucked into playing by the Clinton rules. This is what I've seen in my colleagues, and in myself.
    1) Everything, no matter how ludicrous-sounding, is worthy of a full investigation by federal agencies, Congress, the "vast right-wing conspiracy," and mainstream media outlets

    One of my former colleagues, a hard-nosed reporter who has put countless political pelts on his wall, once told me that everyone in public life has something to hide. Who goes down in the flames of scandal? The politicians we decide to go after.

    That may not be 100 percent true, but it's true enough.

    http://www.vox.com/2015/7/6/8900143/hillary-clinton-reporting-rules

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous12:32 PM

    I also love the fact that the Clinton campaign hasn't subjected themselves to being dissected by the press a year and a half before the election and decided to do things their way. Bravo!

    I laughed this morning when a Republican talker on Fox News attacked Hillary for not acting more like Carly Fiorina, who's given like, 80 interviews since February. Yes, Hillary should act more like a know-nothing candidate who helped destroy the company she worked for as a CEO and is pining for all the attention she can get.

    The press' behavior towards Hillary and The Clintons in general has always been atrocious to say the least. She knows they will try to vilify her at every turn this election cycle so why go out of your way to appease them at this early stage. What would be the point?

    http://crooksandliars.com/2015/07/clintons-rope-dope

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous1:22 PM

    Hey, it could be worse. At least she didn't lock the press in a back room like someone else we all know. If it wasn't a press event then they should respect that, but most of them have become a bunch of whiny titty-babies who don't even bother to do their jobs anyway. Too busy chasing the manufactured "outrage" or "scandal" of the day. I find it hard to care very much.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous1:22 PM

    Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), the ranking member of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, today ripped the committee and Politico for printing inaccurate portrayals of e-mail traffic between then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others in fall 2012, as the administration was facing a backlash over its handling of the Benghazi attacks.

    “[I]t now appears that someone who was given access to the Select Committee’s documents leaked doctored information to the press in order to make unsubstantiated allegations against Secretary Clinton,“ writes Cummings in a letter to Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), the select committee’s chairman.

    http://crooksandliars.com/2015/07/elijah-cummings-rips-politico-benghazi

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous2:43 PM

    Parades are for people - not herds of reporters in the way. Corral them all!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous4:05 PM

      Hear, hear! Let them go home and trample their own children and grandmothers.

      They are so greedy for the money shot.

      Delete

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