I hope this is the last word on the edited video of White House reporters sitting on their asses when George W. walked into the WH press briefing and the same scribes leaping up when Obama unexpectedly entered the press briefing last Friday.
Marty's Man Back From Iraq: "The protocol, both formal and informal, is that everyone rises when the President enters the room... any room, at any time... there is no exception... not rising for the President is an overt act of disrespect for either (or both) the person and/or the Office...
Curiously, the protocol does not include the Vice-President...nor is the Veep entitled to a military salute, as s/he is not in the chain of command... Governors of states, while within their state, receive the same level of protocol 'respect,' but when they travel outside their own state they are relegated to a status known as 'visiting public official' and while they receive a number of courtesies from the host state (in the US) they do not merit an 'all rise' when entering a room...the italicized quote in red in your brief is quite frankly, BS & spin from this Knoller [Mark Knoller CBS News] character.
As much as I personally despise everything President Obama stands for, if I were in a room and he entered I would, as a matter of courtesy and respect for the Office, rise until directed to sit -- as both Presidential Administrative Law, protocol and custom require.
I agree with you Marty. Out of respect, you should stand. Enough said.
ReplyDeleteProtocol and custom, fine, but "Presidential Administrative Law"??? Can you cite the Executive Order number that requires people in the room to rise for the president? Was this country not founded in part because we did not want to bow to a king? I, too, would stand to show respect for the position, but where has that been codified?
ReplyDeleteI don't know, Anon. I'm just passing it along from a CB tipster...
ReplyDeleteI realized that they were not your words, Marty. I think your tipster has tried to apply military protocols to the press. Mark Knoller's explanation was reasonable and, barring a contradictory statement from another experienced participant in the briefing room, clears up the matter for me. I stand by my earlier statement that it is for W to decide if there were any disrespect.
ReplyDeleteThe press's disrespect for President Bush is outrageous.
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be playing,"I'll fix him, you'll see. And his little dog, too."
I detest them.
Knoller is considered an absolute authority within the WH press corps. I vote Mark.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't rise for the president you aren't breaking any laws, but you're still an unpatriotic jerk. For members of the military in uniform, however, it's a different story and they damn well better. The vice president gets the same treatment from the military as does the president, except the band plays "Hail Columbia" instead of "Hail To The Chief". Watch the marine next time you see Biden climb onto Marine 2 and you'll see the same snappy salute.
ReplyDeleteAs I said on the other thread, I simply don't believe members of the press were intending disrespect toward President Bush, if for no other reason then they'd have their asses bounced out of his home real quick and there's plenty of reporters ready to take their spots in the press room.
I'm sure the video thing is either bullshit or President Bush had a more relaxed rule in his White House.
I think the reporters were shocked when Obama showed up at the briefing last Friday and jumped up in unison.
ReplyDeleteThe sitting president should be respected by a standing press...