Harwood would like nothing better than to see his remarks cause Dems to begin to snipe at each other.

Screw him. If he all he can do is generally paraphrase someone instead of directly quoting, who's to say he even understood what he was hearing.

The "internet left fringe" was instrumental in getting him elected. I hope they know that when they talk about the bloggers, they are talking about the people who raised money, made phone calls, knocked on doors, drove voters to the polls, etc.

After we took our pajamas off and got dressed of course.

What a lame excuse to suffer from self-righteous indignation that someone in the White House might be talking about fringe elements in the liberal blog-o-sphere...

Hey, I'm all for every American having equal rights regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, etc.

But I have to say when I saw a clip of "Lady Gaga" on the news this morning demanding an end to DADT, I thought to myself that is no way to align yourself with your average middle of the road American.

PULEEEEZE, take nothing that comes out of the mouth of Harwood as anything close to truth or reality...he is the worst of the worst in MSM...an opportunist (like many) who has no ethics and wants nothing more than to CREATE NEWS...stop picking up anything that includes his name. Think a moment about whether it could work for him to put something like this out there (with no name attached)...I'll bet my pension it is pure fabrication!!! Difficult to prove a negative...

Here's an idea to challenge the outrageously casual use of anonymous quotes in the mainstream media: treat every statement as though it came directly out of Obama's mouth. "Anonymous official" can be anyone from some low-level aide to, technically speaking, the President. So treat it like he said it himself. If he wants to correct the record, he can do that. If he wants to stop playing these two-faced games, he can tell his people to say who the hell they are when they make statements.

I know its a silly dream idea that will never happen, but I wanted to put it out there as a thought exercise.

Seriously Steve, you think that lame conference call months ago was evidence they take us seriously??? You have got to be kidding. You are delusional; the White House consistently treats and thinks of the blogosphere EXACTLY like referenced here.

Heh, I'd say it's a compliment to here there's an White House insider bitching about you!

Not that there aren't some on the left side of the blogosphere who aren't being pissy...

if you jabber with rahm emanuel long enough, i imagine you could get him to say "fuck you" to just about anybody -- especially anybody on the left.

and if it was Rahm, i can guess he's gonna be sayin' it to Harwood today...

"But I have to say when I saw a clip of "Lady Gaga" on the news this morning demanding an end to DADT, I thought to myself that is no way to align yourself with your average middle of the road American."

You know, that's what I always find with these "marches" no matter what the cause or political slant. It usually ends up alot grand standing. And yes, I agree, Lady Gaga probably wasn't too helpful.

Today's blogging just got a whole lot brighter.

As soon as I can find my shoes and the door out of Mom's basement, he's really gonna catch it from me.

Nice of you to completely omit the fact that the adviser was talking about the gay and lesbian protesters at the March for Equality. Isn't quoting something out of context just as irresponsible as quoting anonymous sources? The point here is that the WH has absolutely no respect for the LBGT community. Obama has said that he believes that gays and their relationships are inferior to that of straight marriages. Why should we expect any more than this kind of treatment from his staff? Oh, and if it is not the sentiment of the White House, where's the clarification? They sure do go out of there way to correct fox news, why not this? Finally when you say the "larger diverse community" of bloggers, aren't you just reinforcing the point of the WH that gay bloggers who are upset with the president's unfulfilled promises are not a member of that larger community, but indeed a fringe?

Who has a greater interest in taking open, condescending snipes at bloggers?

The White House or the traditional media?

Having to distance oneself from an anonymous, paraphrased comment smacks a little too much of the Cultural Revolution to me.

Besides, outside the pajamas reference, it's a perfectly fair thing for someone at the White House to say. It's the bloggers job to bitch about issue X not getting enough attention but it's the White House's job to pay attention to issues X, Y, Z and a nearly endless list of others.

Mike

Let's see. A back-bench reporter for the #4 news network gets a quote from some anonymous someone who is important enough to be answering his or her phone on the second day of a three day holiday weekend in order to be paraphrased. This is supposed to be newsworthy, and apparently merits the scorn of the likes of Jane Hamsher and Glen Greenwald, et. al.

Pearl clutching at its finest!

Steve, I'm pretty sure that the White House Chief of Staff qualifies as an advisor. There isn't anyone else who would be that intemperate and undisciplined.

What exactly is so offensive about the point of view ? It's probably an accurate portrayal of the overabundance of naive thinking which has emerged among supporters of Obama from the time of the campaign. It's true that the reality of governing is full of forward and backward steps. It's also the work of adults, and possibly the experience of the previous eight years has given us all a case of amnesia.

Except that this obviously reflects the White House's, Obama's, and Rahm's view of everyone to their left. They are, at the very least, uncomfortable with gays. They HATE populists. They refuse to stand up for American workers, and they talk about Ronald Reagan like he was the father of America.

Is there really anyone who thinks this is anyone other than Rahm Emanuel? I know Steve is trying to calm down a very angry (rightfully so) left, but if Obama had done anything we supported him to do, BS like this wouldn't be an issue.

I do love how half of the people who treated every leak from the whitehouse as serious business have no adopted the believe that reporters just make shit up out of whole cloth.

You should look up "Cognitive Dissonance" on wikipedia, and study the common human resolution of this dissonance. Then maybe you'll understand why you are so willing to deny reality if reality dictates that you think something other than "Obama is the most awesome person who ever lived".

I just don't get it. An anonymous "adviser" isn't even quoted and people find it in themselves to project this directly on Obama. After being the first sitting President to openly (and yes, forcefully)stand with the LGBT community and this is what people decide to harp on. You all deserve this media and very little else.

I call bullshit on Harwood. I don't think I'm alone.

Neglecting to put the perspective of the comments rise is forgivable , if a bit dull .
The wincing from the appearance of unusual characters is forgivable , if a bit predictable .
I don't suppose the meteoric rise in acceptance by the just recently ostracised may allow the success a small freedom of choice ? Ordinarily what is natural to someone who is accepted gives them a little latitude in fashion .

Oh, come on. It sounds exactly like something Rahm would say.

Consider the source. Harwood of MSNBC.

A blind attribution to an unnamed source presented as a throwaway line is very probably more a reflection of the fear the TV media and Harwood has of the Internet than a statement of anything with significant news value from or about the White House.

Mr. or Ms. Anonymous must release Harwood to identify him/her. This is one insult too far, & Anonymous doesn't just get to toss out inflammatory statements about the President's base & expect to get away with it.

The media, for once, needs to do its job & insist.

The Constant Weader at www.RealityChex.com, part of the left wing fringe

Is there really anyone who thinks this is anyone other than Rahm Emanuel?

Sure. Having closely watched Rahm's snarking for years and been the indirect recipient of a particularly tasty piece of it, I can tell you he wouldn't employ that wildly overused pajamas cliche.

I do love how half of the people who treated every leak from the whitehouse as serious business have no adopted the believe that reporters just make shit up out of whole cloth.

(Shrug) I don't doubt someone said it. I just note that when a reporter uses anonymous sources to promulgate views that benefit the reporter (or that the reporter at least believes will benefit him), wise listeners take note of that. I think mine is a more supportable view than "No one in the WH could possibly have said this!!!" or "OHMYGAWD THIS PROVES EVERYONE IN THE WHITE HOUSE TOTALLY HATES LIBERALS!!!!!!"

I wouldn't be surprised if an advisor said exactly that. And while the tone was harsh there is some truth to it. I don't begrudge him for being a moderate, establishment Democrat. That's what it would appear to take these days to win the nomination, let alone the presidency. I don't expect them to fully carry the water for the left. And I do think that a certain amount of patience is needed, particularly now with the right-wing backlash brewing. I would hate to see a redo of 1994, which was a disaster partly because elements of the left took their bat and ball and went home (e.g., labor in the wake of NAFTA). How did the Republican sweep help labor's cause?

I'm sorry, but all this is just high school gossip hour.

You know this flummery over nothing almost doesn't deserve a comment. But the fact that Steve here and some of his followers are indignant over a statement that they might not be taken seriously shows a lack of self esteem. C'mon Steve and Co. lets channel a little Stuart Smalley here. yopur important and damn it people like you.

Sounds like that *adviser* could be rahm. He has certainly shown his disdain for the left overtly and otherwise.

And I agree with others here - the administration does regard the blogging left as an irritant to be ignored. Anyone remember when rahmbo told us all to keep out of the conservadems' faces in the health care battle? How about the DODT issue? They ignore that one as long as they can get away with it. When the din gets loud enough Obama makes a speech. Or how about the time Obama reneged on his telecom immunity promise during the campaign? Oh, another one - torture investigations. They have ignored the left for sure by ignoring the issue.

One of the ironies of their attitude became evident when they finally woke up to Fox news recently. Had they been paying attention to the blogs, they would have known long ago that they needed to push back to both Fox and the right or risk losing any leverage they have in implementing their agenda.

shortstop is right. Also if it were Rahm, it probably would have been "close adviser" or "high-ranking adviser."

Oh, so what? I think you look really cute in your pj's, Stevie.

I'm not sure this is worthy of a lot of attention. Blogging came of age during one of the worst administrations in the nation's history. It was easy to be one-dimensional and negative, because the last eight years were so awful. Next to Bush, anything Obama or any opposition figure did was going to look good.
But it's the real world now. Obama has to govern and he doesn't owe the bloggers any consideration when he's making decisions. They don't owe him any loyalty if he does something they don't like. The problems are so complex and so enormous that any decision Obama makes is going to piss off someone. It's up to bloggers not to be cheerleaders OR Fox News, but to look at each decision objectively. In the real world, in the heat of legislative and political warfare, which is what the administration is facing, sniping goes on on both sides. If a White House aide snaps out a little bit, so what? Not worth a post in my opinion. Let's move on to what's going on with health care, Afghanistan, the environment, etc. etc.

Dianaw

I agree with several comments: It was probably Rahm, the m.f.

I don't think the entire WH should be blamed for what some supposed adviser said. That said some of the criticism in supposed supporter's blogs has been very shrill since he took office. I've stop reading them altogether...Aravosis & Hamsher do come to mind. Aravosis used to be a Repug. It takes a lot of energy for me to remain as angry as they sound on a daily basis. It tends to make one unproductive if they are consumed by hate.

We're not gonna take it any more. We need a million pajamas march on Washington. That'll teach them.

The reported quote is exactly the same type of thinking and attidue that showed up over the public option and the snide remarks about the "left" not understanding life the way the RealPowerPlayers do.

The reported quote is completely consistent with how the White House has been doing business.

The real problem is that the quote reflects the thinking of incompetent people. The idea that the problems Obama has had since the election come from the left is delusional. The bloggers, whatever the fuck that objectively means, have not been running the white house for the last ten months. Fucking incompetent know it alls have. Bragging on a 90 percent approval rating at this point in time is the sign of a fool. Brag on the numbers on health care approval, economic policy approval, Afghanistan approval.

And to help matters, in typical "liberal" equocating hemhawing fashion, the posting here just explains away yet one more dead canary in the white house just like global warming deniers explain away a melting ice cap.

One of the ironies of their attitude became evident when they finally woke up to Fox news recently. Had they been paying attention to the blogs, they would have known long ago that they needed to push back to both Fox and the right or risk losing any leverage they have in implementing their agenda.

Respectfully: This is a remarkably naive paragraph. The White House didn't just "wake up to" FOX News; it finally acted on its knowledge. We can debate whether the timing of this pushback is right or whether it should have happened long ago, but to believe that the WH wouldn't recognize FOX for what it is without the helpful explanations of progressive bloggers is giving ourselves a lot of self-important credit for spotting the bleeding obvious. However we feel about the Obama administration's choice and pace of actions on a variety of issues, you'd have a hard time proving that the entire administration is stone stupid.

Only very rarely is the advantage, role, strength of progressive blogs that we see what others can't see. Most of the time, it's that we yell louder and longer when we see it, and thus attempt to get our elected officials to do the right thing at the right time.

the commenters on this thread really need to grow up...
(no, it doesn't work for me...never mind)

Let's see, who among Obama's advisors has a history of antipathy to the progressive wing of the party, a penchant for saying outrageous things, and is generally thought of as an asshole??????

Oh yeah... it's that little guy.... ummmm, yeah... Ram? Roam? Oh, right - Rahm! That's it! Rahm Emanuel!!

The little putz ought to be sent out to work with his brother here in Hollywood, where all he can fuck up are bad movies.

Nice of you to completely omit the fact that the adviser was talking about the gay and lesbian protesters at the March for Equality.

Well THIS should make me unpopular but IF there is an advisor that thinks the internet fringe is unhinged it's probably because they read the comments. I will read a blog that I think is right on and then I will read the comments and think 'OK it's time to back away from the keyboard'...

This was certainly their attitude during the campaign so it's not a stretch to think they still feel that way despite their outreach. They have to do it, but they hate us, as Obama always had.

(Because remember, Obama sees the blogosphere as one part of the partisan problem in Washington)

"The real problem is that the quote reflects the thinking of incompetent people."

You can call them a lot of things, but the one thing the folks who got a black guy named Barack Obama elected President are NOT is incompetent.

Mike

@shortstop - Perhaps you didn't read the entire thought - respectfully. I said they would have realized the need to push back against fox and the wingers, pushing back being something else they have ignored until Alan Grayson had the courage to speak up for himself and the rest of us who are tired of reading about the vitriolic right wing attacks.

Sorry, CDW; the phrase "woke up to Fox News recently" did blunt your apparent intention to emphasize action rather than understanding.

Dr. Lemming and rbe1 are on to something. The take-away from the anonymous comment seems to be, learn and think more strategically about how government works, and how your goals and wishes fit into the big picture and how best to accomplish them. However difficult it is sometimes, Presidents have to be pragmatic, especially when they do not have sweeping mandates.

Keep in mind the latest party identification numbers and consider that the old left-right paradigm is not the only way to look at the choices the President faces. Polls now show Independents at 36.4%, Democrats at 33.9%, and Republicans at 22.0%. Exit polls last November showed Democrats at 39% and Independents at 29%. Independents not only closed the gap, they have surpassed those polled who identify as Democrats. This suggests that the administration can't just focus on how things appear to Dems and Republicans, Independents are very much in the mix, as well.

You go, SYSPROG, if I even believed this incident every happened I'd not be surprised because so many STILL do not know the difference between someone who "posts a blog" and a "commenter on a blog"...but then it would take some real interest in WORDS and what they MEAN which is GONE for good from 'merica's "debate/discussion"...just flap the old lips because you can...

Here' my rule on source credibility:

Attribution to anonymous official/adviser/confidant, ad nauseam = FULL OF SHIT.

It was more than likely Bill Burton. He's the white house specialist in quotable quotes and snarky put-downs.

You "don't doubt" that bloggers are respected by "plenty of folks" in the White House.

You don't? Why on earth not?

You add, "... I don't doubt those same folks have colleagues who think bloggers are worthless, naive amateurs who should be ignored".

Well, that's a start.

Faith is too precious a thing to extend to any politician.

"There is only one way to look on a politician, and that is down".

That is not a cynical utterance. Quite the contrary. It is chock full of common sense.

A grain of salt is sometimes worth an ounce of gold.

Hey, Rahm, it's a good thing Dean called the shots last time around, because you're as politically astute as a bump on a frog's ass.