THAT WAS AWESOME !
Regardless of political parties, this stunt of having a TOWN HALL where nobody in the audience can ask a question (in fact the audience was hand picked), is total crap.
SEEING Helen Thomas defend the press at 88 years old makes me damn proud I live in the USA.
Here's to freedom - Happy Fourth of July !
NOTE
JACKWEEDS PLEASE DO NOT REPLY
My only intention was to give credit to Helen Thomas for standing up for American's rights, and while I don't like or agree with 98% of the media, they ARE there to serve and protect.
At her age she should be careful kicking people's butts - she may break a bone in her foot. 
Jeff, I missed that, and video?
I got it
http://www.breitbart.tv/white-house-reporters-grill-gibbs-over-selected-questions-...
the audience was hand picked..."
that's the way it was with king george.
There wasn't much hue and cry then. To question king george was, for a long time, leaving you open to accusations of lack of patriotism
While I'm not comfortable with the idea of pre-screened questions I remember during the campaign one open mic town hall type setup where the citizen asked 'what do you think of The Flag'.
Now this is a nice question for Miss America contestants but I really wished that person had asked a question dealing with just about any real issue we have to face every day. I did not care what the candidate 'thinks of the flag'. We had wars, we had congressional gridlock, we had a near fascist state thanks to Dick Cheney and the citizen asks 'what do you think of The Flag'.
If you truly leave a 'town hall meeting' format to include citizens asking whatever they want you risk them asking a question about an 'issue' that may sound 'patiotic' but lacking real substance.
Of COURSE they're going to screen the questions.
You have to remember that which you see on TV is seldom what it seems. You have to do homework. Even the stuff you find online...particularly if it sounds good, do some backchecking to make sure you're not being lied to too badly. The post Bear put up about the signers of the Declaration Of Independence is a good example.
Whether the questions are screened to make it really easy on Obama remains to be seen. If they deal with real issues remains to be seen also but spare me the sudden self righteous 'what's going on here' after letting the last eight years dismantle so many of our rights.
Where were you then?
Thank you, Norm. That was very well said.
It was.
Good point Norm but I hold all people in office to the same standard. A persons word isn't worth much lately and if you can't trust what's left?
Well it definetly could be worse.
Look what they got in Iran.
Ours is a tedious near unweildly system but it won't get better until people start doing their homework and questioning things.
It's one thing to blame the politicians but it's the electorate (that means you and people like you) that voted them in.
The founding fathers pinned their hope on 'a well informed electorate'.
Good luck with that.
We're about as well informed (thru laziness) and as easily stampeded as a herd of cattle.
Iformation is out there. There are websites that support every good and every psycho 'cause' there is. You have to take a look and do some serious questioning of everything the media feeds you. You have to take into consideration that you might have to change your mind on a few things.
There's a pony in there someplace but YOU have to be willing to wade through the manure to get to it.
I really, really hate politics, politicians, etc. Mainly because politics always ends up f-ing my everyday life. Be that Democrats who love spending money on different projects or the Republicans who claim to be "less government" but somehow manage to blow just as much money as the democrats and try to grasp the same amount of government control. Really, no matter who you have in office these days it will not matter. I'm a registered Republican and that party doesn't have anyone or anything to offer at the moment. Same could be said about the Democratic party depending on your opinion and at the end of the day any political discussion is not about facts but opinions. Facts can be mutated to reinforce pretty much any opinion. Then you add the media (Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, etc) and you complicate the mess even more. You always end up with one party in charge and the other spending 4-8 years trying to make the elected officer look bad so they can have their "precious" back (...Lord of the Rings reference). While this is going on nothing gets done. You have one side reveling in power and the other wanting the power that is "rightfully theirs". As long as a human being is in charge things will be flawed. We are imperfect creatures that make mistakes daily. As soon as we realize this things will get better. As long as we assume to have things "figured out" and that we are in the know and all - things won't. As they say, only a humble man can enter the kingdom of God. If you don't believe in God and all that, just substitute "knowledge", "wisdom", etc for the God thing (You can also use the Kansas line "if I claim to be a wiseman it surely means that I don't know"). I'm just glad those 8 years of Cheney is over. That was a bad nightmare that a lot of people are still living through. The best you can hope for is someone to walk in and not screw things up too badly...
As if this was the first time an audience was picked and a list of 'questions you're allowed to ask' is given.
I guess I am a jackweed, because seeing this kind of thread here, my sanctuary away from this sort of thing, makes me sad.
Carry on.
Spike -
Jeff will soon respond that if we don't like it, jackweeds like us shouldn't even read his threads, let alone respond. There's another fun thread going on right now, praising slave owners/traders who didn't like the tax scheme.
I appreciate your point of view, and your comment.
And I didn't even know Obama had a son. I for one think we must owe a debt of gratitude to someone, for a country so free that a man who lies about being an American, about being a socialist, and even the number and gender of his children, can be elected president.
I should just stop watching the local news and logging onto CNN.COM because I could always come to the GDP to get all the latest irrelevant bullshit from the village jackweed. Thanks!!
The Norm said: There's a pony in there someplace but YOU have to be willing to wade through the manure to get to it.I guess but I won't forget to bring my bucket and brush because they're might only be one way out.
Tommy59 needs a timeout.
Echos of James von Brunn in his comments.
Tommy69 - for those despicable comments you are now relegated to the lowly rank of DILL WEED.
I'm referring to the comment in which you foresee what my response will be.
You be wrong, son.
A little insensitivity to sarcasm there, Mr T? Or is it me?
Anyone bright enough to read between the lines knows that I am as far to the left as anyone on the board (or should I say anyone who allows themselves to be sucked into this sort of discussion). As we are typing over the interwebs, it was hard for Mr. T to see that my tongue was planted firmly in my cheek. Though seadevil did mange to pick it up, and thanks for that.
And coming from you, Jeff O(xbow Incident), dillweed is a compliment. Thank you, sir. And how many times have you typed "If you don't like it, just don't look at it" on these pages?
I think both you guys are just swell, and enjoy seeing your posts. From what I've been able to glean about your philosophies, we're really not all that far apart.
TommyBahamaNiner said: And coming from you, Jeff O(xbow Incident), dillweed is a compliment
Damn! Foiled Again! (said in my best Snidely Whiplash nasty voice)
Now that we've made up and we're friends again, please explain the Oxbow Incident reference. I googled it and the wiki explanation is a mile long (I prefer the Cliffs Notes versions).
Thank you kindly for your continued support.
No I didnt detect his sarcasm, and I read his post more than once to be sure there wasn't sarcasm intended. Just went back and read it again, still don't get it. Anyway, who cares...I have nothing really more to add to this thread so here's a picture of an alien bursting out of a guy's stomach.
Jeff O(don't make me read the whole thing)
The Wiki is the Cliff Notes version of all subjects. Just wait till your little ones get a little older and they have a paper to do. Look over their shoulder on the 'puter and you just may see the Wiki.
But let me raise a glass to toast Helen Thomas. She may be 88 and has been asking questions of Presidents since JFK (you can check Wiki if you don't believe me) but she's still sharp.
The great thing about Helen Thomas is that she asks the tough questions that put the Prez on the spot no matter who he is. Most of what you see these days are the partisans. They are for someone and are throwing softballs at the guy they like and hardballs at the ones they don't. She still only throws the hard stuff.
tommy 59...well put my man and no I'm NOT being sarcastic. Too many lefty LIB'S in this forum. Can't we have some middle ground? Obama should be impeached before the entire country reverts to socialism. He is getting what he wants because he keeps making things worse. Wow, those bailouts sure helped the auto industry and the jobs situation didn't it! Unemployment now at almost 10%, it is ripe for ushering in national socialistic health care. The worse it gets, the more people will want government to fix everything. And you all know how government has handled Medicare, Welfare and Social Security. Wake up you "Jackasses".
And as for the original topic "Town Square Meeting"...what a freaking complete JOKE! Reporting by the state run media and questions all carefully screened to promote Obama. The country has lost it's mind. It's the same on the Republican side. We have political leaders that don't have a hair on their ass. I'd love to see a "fair" town square meeting. Oh, I'm sorry we can't do that. It would turn into a lynching. We can't have that now, could we?
I never though I would see the day when I would like Helen Thomas. Boy did she give that idiot Gibbs the business. Is the press waking up to the muslim ?
