Milbank: Nico Pitney and 'The Obama Show'

Dana Milbank, Washington Post, lashes out against the Obama administration for planting a question in yesterday's news conference.

Nico Pitney, Huffington Post, obliged the White House by asking the preplanned question.

After considerable mocking, Milbank concludes:

[Y]esterday's daytime drama belonged primarily to Pitney, of the Huffington Post Web site. During the eight years of the Bush administration, liberal outlets such as the Huffington Post often accused the White House of planting questioners in news conferences to ask preplanned questions. But here was Obama fielding a preplanned question asked by a planted questioner -- from the Huffington Post.

Pitney said the White House, though not aware of the question's wording, asked him to come up with a question about Iran proposed by an Iranian. And, as it turned out, he was not the only prearranged questioner at yesterday's show. Later, Obama passed over the usual suspects to call on Macarena Vidal of the Spanish-language EFE news agency. The White House called Vidal in advance to see whether she was coming and arranged for her to sit in a seat usually assigned to a financial trade publication. She asked about Chile and Colombia.

A couple of more questions and Obama called it a day. "Mr. President!" yelled Mike Allen of Politico. "May I ask about Afghanistan? No questions about Iraq or Afghanistan?"

Sorry: Those weren't prearranged.

I'm glad to see that the lib media are turning up the heat a bit on Obama.

I still expect to see the media to provide drooling coverage of Obama date nights. And the suspected Martha's Vineyard summer vacation is sure to reach unprecedented epic proportions in fawning favorable media coverage.

But for now, the lib media are making it a wee bit uncomfortable for Obama. In short, they've decided to do their jobs.