Posted on 04/17/2009 2:16:42 AM PDT by seanmerc
WASHINGTON -- White House spokesman Robert Gibbs and President Barack Obama share the same trait: They both are very cautious when speaking with reporters.
Gibbs measures his words hesitantly between some "ums" and "ahs," before voicing carefully selected words in response to a reporter’s question.
As White House press secretary he is in the bull’s eye every day at televised news briefings, which may explain why he appears most comfortable with the reporters for wire services and TV networks he schmoozed with on the campaign trail.
In a position where many predecessors have blown their tops out of frustration or melted down in irritation over repetitive questions, the soft-spoken Gibbs keeps his cool and loves it when his acerbic wisecracks get a laugh.
He is very formally addressed as "Robert," not "Bob" or "Bobby" as he was called as a kid.
Some reporters actually pay him homage by thanking him for giving them a chance to question him at White House briefings. Not me. That’s his job.
Gibbs is part of the White House inner circle that includes chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and senior advisor David Axelrod. He also has a close and loyal relationship with Obama, who told the Wall Street Journal last year: "He’s the guy I want in a foxhole with me during incoming fire. If I’m wrong, he challenges me. He is not intimidated by me."
Gibbs sees himself as the "protector of the (Obama) image."
The 38-year-old Gibbs was born in Auburn, Ala., and still has a soft southern accent.
Politics apparently is the love of his life. Emily Sparrow -- his high school history teacher -- says he was a `political junkie at 17."
His work experience was mostly on Capitol Hill for different Democratic senators, and there he honed his skills in speaking for the "boss" and taking on the boss’s detractors.
For all his low-key demeanor and pastel neckties, he can be aggressive in defense of Obama and has been known as "the enforcer." Speaking of ties, Obama swiped Gibbs’ light blue tie for his speech at the 2004 Democratic convention. That was the address that won Obama national attention and set him on the road to the presidency.
"It (the tie) was requisitioned for a higher purpose," said Gibbs. "I have never gotten that back and I never had the illusion that I would."
Sometimes Gibbs has to dance around a bit when a questioner asks about glaringly inconsistent administration positions, such as blocking habeas corpus (the right of appeal) for prisoners we hold at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan but allowing it for captives at Guantanamo.
It’s up to Gibbs to field the questions, running the gamut of trouble spots.
Obama has had two prime-time formal news conferences. In his second news conference, Obama went out of his way to call on representatives of bloggers and even government-supported news outlets, like Stars and Stripes, the military’s newspaper.
The Gibbs press operation has this annoying practice of alerting selected reporters that Obama plans to call on them during a presidential news conference. It all smacks heavily of managed news.
I fear the next step will be that the White House staff will ask the selected reporters what they intend to ask the president if they are called on.
In an interview Gibbs told broadcaster Peter Maier that he would never lie as a White House spokesman. Where have I heard that before?
We’ll see.
Lol! Spill your guts, terrorist, or I’ll keep showing you that pic!
Maybe she has Chron’s Disease, or ulcerative colitis, as I do. Of course, I’ve always had “that” problem. But now I have the UC to back it up. ;-)
It’s not her age, she’s been like that for decades!
Helen Thomas is the beauty standard for Dem women.
Guess that I'm a vet shows, huh. {g}
You’re old ain’t ya’?
I'm stealing that...
OMG!!! I was at first traumatized...but am now laughing so damned hard I can’t see anyway so it doesn’t matter!!! LOLOLOLOOOOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!
LOL!
Hey, we need to get Sarah Palin included in that picture.
It turns out ugly IS skin deep
it’s not about being old. She’s not old, she’s DECAYED
i’d hate to see that in hdtv, 65 in. “screaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam”
she’s got some makeup on, a definite, albeit slight, every so slight improvement
I must admit I was really fooled by the title! I thought this article was about Helen’s singing in the White House, and the subsequent discovery that she’s a basso profundo!
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