Pathetic RW Memes That Didn’t Fly No. 3: Jodi in Wonderland
This projected series was interrupted for a while because every day sees the shallower rightwing end of the media pool and associated bloggers lathering themselves up revoltingly over some invented scandal or another, and we’d be up to no. umpteen gazillion now if I hadn’t decided to reserve it for absolute whoppers of triviality that are demonstrably disproven before the virtual ink is dry. It’s now election year, so I suppose we’ll all have to ramp it up a little.
Memeorandum (don’t sigh, I’ll be done soon enough) is popping with bonkers today over a supposed super-sekrit extravagant Halloween bash the Obamas allegedly hushed up in 2009 to avoid rubbing the rest of your faces in it and risking a pitchfork-wielding torchlit mass invasion of the White House lawn in the era of Tea Parties and the thick of the recession.
So many assholes, so little time. Where to start? Well, Memeorandum’s software’s plonked Verum Serum at the head of the pack, so I guess that’s as good a place as any.
As is often the case, the cover-up is worse than the crime:
A White House “Alice in Wonderland” costume ball — put on by Johnny Depp and Hollywood director Tim Burton — proved to be a Mad-as-a-Hatter idea that was never made public for fear of a political backlash during hard economic times, according to a new tell-all.
“The Obamas,” by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, tells of the first Halloween party the first couple feted at the White House in 2009. It was so over the top that “Star Wars” creator George Lucas sent the original Chewbacca to mingle with invited guests.
The book reveals how any official announcement of the glittering affair — coming at a time when Tea Party activists and voters furious over the lagging economy, 10-percent unemployment rate, bank bailouts and Obama’s health-care plan were staging protests — quickly vanished down the rabbit hole.
“White House officials were so nervous about how a splashy, Hollywood-esque party would look to jobless Americans — or their representatives in Congress, who would soon vote on health care — that the event was not discussed publicly and Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged,” the book says.
Serumer “Morgen” expands on his theme, claiming the party was “never reported,” citing a few places it was covered but still apparently “never reported,” and concluding with the intended zinger:
I know this may be one of the most ridiculous White House cover-ups of all time, but there is no question they tried to hide this from the public and are continuing to lie about it.
Shorter “Morgen”: “WAAAAA!!!! We missed making mischief out of this in 2009, so now we’ll have to scrabble to make up for lost time.”
Sadly, his very first commenter lets the black cat out of the bag:
I remember reading about this, and seeing photos, several places on the web, back in ’09. Why the silliness about this now? Someone trying to sell a book.
And is promptly set upon by some other commenters for spoiling the fun before it’s even begun.
Yes, that book. The reason the New York Post and a few other outlets are ginning this up right now is that they’re desperate to justify their outlay on leaks from Jodi Kantor’s White House “exposé,” so expect more of this nonsense in coming days. Myself, I find “Ulsterman” more entertaining—and quite possibly more credible.
So let’s cut to the chase and see what Kantor herself has to say about it all. From Politico:
Jodi Kantor, author of a new book making headlines for unveiling details of tension between first lady Michelle Obama and West Wing staffers, defended her reporting in a TV interview Monday, saying the White House has not found problems with any specifics in “The Obamas.”
“The White House has not pushed back on the specific reporting in the book. They have not disputed any of the facts. And the book is clear about the fact that it’s based on interviews with people closest to the Obamas,” Kantor said on the “Today” show.
I think you can probably guess where this is going by now. From the very same article, here’s the White House not pushing back:
Soon after excerpts of the highly anticipated book surfaced online on Friday, the White House issued a statement strongly finding fault with Kantor’s reporting.
“The book, an overdramatization of old news, is about a relationship between two people whom the author has not spoken to in years,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said. “The emotions, thoughts and private moments described in the book, though often seemingly ascribed to the president and first lady, reflect little more than the author’s own thoughts. These secondhand accounts are staples of every administration in modern political history and often exaggerated.”
Oh, Jodi, Jodi, Jodi ...
And as for her allegations about this “unreported” extravaganza?
Kantor on Monday stood by her reporting surrounding the Halloween party, saying on the “Today” show, “If you look at the text of the book, the sort of outside trick-or-treating was public with press. The inside party, which was the more lavish party, was kept very quiet.”
We may as well stick with Politico since we’re already there (if nothing else, to avoid giving more traffic to the wingnut blogs):
Alice in Wonderland Halloween party was no secret, W.H. says
A White House official told POLITICO Sunday that a Halloween party thrown for military families in 2009 was no secret and that there was no conspiracy to cover-up the role of two well-known Hollywood figures.
...
“This was an event for local school children from the Washington DC area and for hundreds of military families. If we wanted this event to be a secret, we probably wouldn’t have invited the press corps to cover it, release photos of it to Flickr, or post a video from it on the White House website,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement. “Even Johnny Depp’s fans knew about it and posted on their website. Just goes to show you can’t believe everything you read in books these days.”The official White House social media releases and the reporter pool dispatches from the party do not mention either Burton or Depp, but the Depp fan site JohnnyDeppNews.com reported that the actor was in attendance with Burton. And the Nashville Tennessean also reported that both Depp and Burton were at the White House for the party. Then-White House press secretary Robert Gibbs addressed the event in his briefing, but did not go into any detail.
And it’s a couple of details from that last paragraph that the likes of “Morgen” are now clinging to in their face-saving “updates” as the scoop evaporates:
Funny that neither the White House blog post I linked above, nor the photos or video referenced by the White House spokesperson make any mention of Depp or Burton’s participation, or any “Alice in Wonderland” themed event at all.
Yeah, right, “Morgen.” You were too preoccupied with whatever the hell you wingnuts were frothing over at the time, and too gormless to pick up on this story until somebody spoonfed it to you 18 months or so later, but you’d sure as shootin’ have covered the hell out of it if you’d known Johnny Depp and Tim Burton were dragging it up with the kids and vets and Obamas at a Halloween Party held on *gasp* Halloween.
Ah, but “Morgen” has a final ace up his sleeve:
Final update: Here’s an interesting little tidbit from an AP report in October 2009:
But the White House refused to say where Sasha and Malia Obama were celebrating Halloween and what the two girls were wearing, even though hundreds of other children their ages were in costume in full view of the media. The White House referred back to first lady Michelle Obama’s comment to Jay Leno, that finding out what Sasha and Malia were wearing would require “security clearance.”
I’m sure this secrecy had nothing to do with the fact that the costumes Sasha and Malia wore (see photo above) were clearly chosen to fit with the Alice in Wonderland themed event.
Yup. And I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that there are a bunch of conscienceless demagogic dimwitted assholes like you out there making shit up to drum up the “Obama Antoinette” outrage at the drop of a hat, aimed at them and their family for craven polical gain.
Not to finish on such an intemperate note, that brings me back to Kantor. At least a couple of people whose opinions I respect have differed about some of the earlier reportage of Kantor’s book. I haven’t paid it much attention as that sort of “insider” tittle-tattle with its stretchy interpretations of details there’s no way the author could possibly be able to verify (such as the motivations of FLOTUS) doesn’t interest me that much. But given how this one’s panned out, grab a pound or so of salt when Kantor’s next “exposé” hits the fan.
Having given so much coverage to one side of the story in this case, I’ll conclude by balancing it with Eric Schultz at the White House Blog “not pushing back,” as reported by reliable witness Jodi Kantor above. Here it is in full:
A recent book titled “The Obamas” is the author’s take, reflecting her own opinions, on a remarkably strong relationship between the President and First Lady – both of whom share an unwavering commitment to each other, and to improving the lives of Americans. The book is about a relationship between two people whom the author has not spoken to in years. In fact, the author did not interview the Obamas for the book so the emotions and private moments described in the book, though often seemingly ascribed to the President and First Lady, reflect little more than the author’s own thoughts. These second-hand accounts are staples of every Administration in modern political history and are often exaggerated. And as those who have worked in this Administration will tell you, the scenes depicted in the book do not accurately portray how well the East and West Wings work together.
One of the anecdotes that has received wide attention has been a supposedly secret Alice in Wonderland themed Halloween party in 2009. This was an event for local school children from the Washington DC area and for hundreds of military families, and certainly nothing that the White House was ashamed of.
While acknowledging that the press was allowed to attend, which in itself would seem to cast doubt on any alleged secrecy, the author contends that there was “no media coverage beyond the standard, limited pool report noting the president’s presence.” We would invite all readers to read that extremely detailed and colorful pool report, or the stories that emerged from the party, and decide for themselves. In addition, the event was previewed in the official White House Daily Guidance and discussed by then-Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on camera from the podium—before he dressed up as Darth Vader at the party of course. The White House released videos and photos of the event on whitehouse.gov and our Flickr account, hardly the actions of a conspiratorial cover-up. The author attempts to paint the fact that some involved in the film attended and were not singled out in previews of the event as an attempt to hide their involvement—this was a large event, word of their involvement was certain to be reported, and indeed it was.
This mischaracterization of a celebration in support of military families is unfortunate but also instructive. When book authors attempt to stretch isolated incidents into grandiose insights, they end up going down the rabbit hole.
Posted by YAFB on 01/09/12 at 03:50 PM • Permalink
Categories: Politics • Election '12 • Barack Obama • Bedwetters • Poliblogs • Our Stupid Media • Skull Hampers •
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