DOOLEY Observed: Jay Carney ..... Ah ... well ..... hum

Thomas Jefferson said in 1802: "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies."

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."-- Thomas Jefferson

"When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout." .... jbd

"When once a job you have begun, do no stop till it is done. Whether the task be great or small, do it well, or not at all." .... Anon

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein

Television is one daylong commercial interrupted periodically by inept attempts to fill the airspace in between them.

If you can't start a fire, perhaps your wood is wet ....

When you elect clowns, expect a circus ..............

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Jay Carney ..... Ah ... well ..... hum

White House reporters sometimes poke fun at press secretary Jay Carney’s penchant for using the phrase “I appreciate the question” during briefings — especially when it’s clear he likely does not, in fact, “appreciate” a tough or awkward query.

But a Yahoo! News analysis identifies “13 distinct strains” of how Mr. Carney evades reporter’s questions. More than 1,900 times since he held his first press briefing on Feb. 16, 2011, he gave some form of “I don’t have the answer — and there were at least 9,486 times where he’s dodged a question.

The breakdown, according to Yahoo!, includes:
I don’t have the answer (1905 times)
I would refer you to someone else (1383 times)
You already know the answer (1125 times)
I’m not going to tell you (939 times)
Not that I know of (927 times)
I don’t want to (588 times)
I’m not sure (549 times)
I won’t speculate (525 times)
No comment (429 times)
I’ll get back to you (387 times)
It’s a good question (381 times)
See yesterday’s non-response (231 times)
The president won’t tell me (117 times)

The job of a White House press secretary is certainly not to give open, unfettered access of the inner workings of the White House to the press. In large part, it’s messaging.

And, given the White House’s recent woes, sometimes it’s flattery.

“We have a team here that works really hard trying to anticipate the questions you’re going to ask. The problem is, there’s a lot of you and you’re good at your jobs and you’re smart.