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Jay Carney Hammered On Speechgate, Says ‘It Never Came Up’ In Meeting With President

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At today’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Jay Carney fielded questions about the scheduling of next week’s jobs speech like a shortstop playing pepper with a meth addict, and while little new was revealed, Carney did say that he spent “a great deal of time with him this morning, and it never came up.”

Carney downplayed the issue, calling it media “catnip,” but reporters continued to press Carney over whether the scheduling snafu was a sign of poor communication.

The other consistent theme of the day was a continued effort to get Carney to reveal more about next week’s speech, so his answers are well-represented in the first few questions from CNN’s Athena Jones, and ABC News’ Jonathan Karl.

CNN’s Athena Jones asked Carney for specifics on the “bipartisan” measures that the President plans to present in next week’s joint session, and whether the White House had specific reason to believe that they would get support on the Hill. Carney declined to provide a tick-tock, except to say that the President “consulted widely, as he always does.”

Jones then asked Carney what the President’s reaction to the scheduling kerfuffle had been, and Carney responded, “I spent a great deal of time with him this morning, and it never came up,” then paused before saying, “Honestly.”

CBS News’ Mark Knoller then joked that perhaps Carney wasn’t asking the right questions, to which Carney responded, “I know you guys love this stuff, I know it’s catnip, but we’re really not focused on it.”

ABC’s Jonathan Karl then hit upon a theme that would run throughout the briefing, that Speaker Boehner’s public refusal of the President’s request was an indication of the administration’s dysfunction. “You can’t even get the Congress to agree on a date for the speech without a political sideshow,” Karl began, “How can the American people expect you to do something much more difficult, come up with a jobs plan, dealing with the deficit?”

Carney responded, “Because the sideshows don’t matter, the economy matters. The American people matter. Jobs matter.”

He went on to repeat the hope that members of Congress would return from their break chastened by constituents into being more cooperative, the exact notion that Boehner’s actions belied yesterday. He also explained, for the first time of many at this briefing, that the original date was selected as the soonest possible date that the President could address returning Congressmen, and that the President chose a joint session because his proposals will require Congressional action.

Here’s the clip, from C-Span:


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  • Anonymous

    Proof of just how incompetent this admin is!!!
    What a disgrace and embarrassment to this Country!!

  • Anonymous

    Jay Carney Hammered On Speechgate, Says ‘It Never Came Up’ In Meeting With President

    I call “bullsh*t” on that one. Did he say it with a straight face? No on ein Washington is buying that. And it was a pointless lie… should have just been honest.
     

  • http://thefunemployed.blogspot.com/ rance

    The President is so incompetent that at this point, making fun of him and his incompetence is like beating up the retarded kid on the playground.  It just makes you the asshole.

  • Anonymous

    Boehner needs to resign immediately.

  • Anonymous

    Obama needs to resign immediately.

    There…fixed it for you!

  • Anonymous

    Ok Tommy…….

  • Anonymous

    Yesterday , Carney was taunting the Republicans , telling them they were free to reschedule the debate .

    And today , he lies . 

    What an incompetent spokesferret .

  • Hugo Daun

    It’s a safe bet that you’ve had a lock on “asshole” for quite some time.

  • ElJeffyBovido

    If “jobs matter” THEN you democlowns should have stuck to your guns and deliver the fugging speech on top of the gNOpigs.

    But NOOOOOOOOOO, you morons had to be “the adult in the room”

    As anyone can see, that worked really, REALLY well.

  • Anonymous

    The White House AND the MEDIA look like a bunch of boobs? I’m expecting them to do a “Who’s on first” routine at the next press briefing.

  • Anonymous

    I said last night when this broke that Oblamer would say he had no idea….this guy and his admin becomes more and more embarrassing each day!

  • DietCokeHead

    This from the “person” with a picture of Bachmann eating a corndog as their avatar.

  • Anonymous

    “Catnip?”  When you put clowns in charge, don’t be surprised when a circus  breaks out. 

    Why doesn’t Obama give the “speech” tonight?  The millions of people with no jobs can’t wait until this incompetent bunch gets it right.  That may be never.

  • Darladoon

    boy, that washington press corps is really holding our leaders’ feet to the fire with
    this ludicrously pertinent line of questioning on such an important matter to all americans

  • Mablanco

    I think I saw his nose grow as he spoke! : )

  • Darladoon

    obviously, the washington press corps is liberal.  you can see it clear as day!  

    this is how they function:  they talk about matters totally irrelevant to 99% of the 
    population, while bankers and polluters and billionaires destroy the global economy
    in their inexorable pursuit of wealth and power.

    oh, and they really, really love to make obama look great, as evidenced in this 
    clip.  

  • Anonymous

    This guy Carney lies with the Obama of them.

    The lib losers in the MSM and beyond just lap it up like Obama’s ______.

  • Anonymous

    Two articles today with “catnip” in them by Tommy; is this the word of the day?

    Sorry, but my guess is that Carney is not telling the truth on this at all.  So funny, even james Carville, yes the democrat serpent himself, thinks Obama screwed the pooch on this one, but TC thinks Boehner should resign.

    It’s been fun visiting the baord today; between coordinated talking points, calls for resignations, and outright lies being told by this administration, I will say I have been provided with a lot of good and hearty laughs.

  • L_Salazar

    When TC gets that wink and a nod fom Carney, he knows how to spin the story.

  • Sheik Yerbouti

    I hope the President sufficiently scolds the speaker of the house for his impertinence and should any member choose not to attend they should be docked a weeks pay.  It’s time the President shows these clowns who runs the country, as all they’ve done so far is run it into the ground. The lack of respect displayed by republican and tea-party members for this President has been appalling.  They believe every lie they’ve ever told about him and believe he deserves no respect.  But by disrespecting the office of President they disrespect every American and deminish him and us in the eyes of the world.

  • http://twitter.com/lazzzlo lazzzlo

    Carney downplayed the issue, calling it media “catnip”

    .  Are you calling yourself and your media brethren pussies?

  • Chris

    If he wanted the Congress to work together on this, he sure has a funny way of showing it. Why he would pick the night of the Republican debate unless he wanted to antagonize them/set them up? And if he didn’t think it was big deal, he is incredibly stupid…

  • Garl

    Carney is stumbling and falling more quickly than any press secretary I can remember.  He is really hurting the President.

  • Darkchocolate70

    How does Carney look himself in the mirror?

    How does Carney’s wife handle the humiliation she must endure?

    How do Carney’s parents live with this embaressment?

  • Anonymous

    Ya, you would think they could have found a more convincing liar than him.

    Click below and laugh.

    http://www.scoamf.com/2011/08/hitler-realizes-obama-is-stuttering.html

  • Anonymous

    Ya, you would think they could have found a more convincing liar than him.

    Click below and laugh.

    http://www.scoamf.com/2011/08/hitler-realizes-obama-is-stuttering.html

  • “Catnip”

    And we know one writer who it was big time “catnip” for right Tommy? From calling people pussies today to calling for people to resign over a speech being moved one day. Really made yourself look bad today.

  • http://thefunemployed.blogspot.com/ rance

    So the President had to move his very important jobs speech from competing with Republicans and now football fans are upset he’s messing with their schedule.  I guess Tommy Christopher will be calling for all these football fans to be rounded up and thrown in jail for trying to make the president look bad.  Or at least some form of punishment.  because, they must be punished.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for chiming in, Hugo.

    Whose gonna succeed you as President for Life of Venezuela?

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for chiming in, Hugo.

    Whose gonna succeed you as President for Life of Venezuela?

  • RACE BAITING@6 RESIST WE MUCH!
  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FSPIVAFYI672OH5NOKVRTEZA4U MadCharles

    Where is SUPERMAN ??

  • RACE BAITING@6 RESIST WE MUCH!

    There will be “Dog Whistles” @ the football game

  • http://MsUnderestimated.com MsUnderestimated

    And it’s funny that at first, the Obama Regime was going to stick to their guns about 8pm on the 7th, but as soon as they agreed to the 8th, they were quick to point out “well, we”ll make sure we don’t interrupt the NFL debut, so we’ll start early.” What a farce! They’ll kow-tow to meet the NFL’s schedule, but hang on as long as they can to try and step on the GOP debate?

    Seriously, I’d like to have seen BOTH remain at 8pm on the 7th, and see which broadcast won in the ratings.

  • Norbit

    LOL!

    This is turning into the “Speech To Nowhere”!

    Really, between the President and Boehner, time after time, WHO’S THE DADDY?

    LOL!

  • Anonymous

    Well, the way I hear it, most folks know that Obama is LIVID, smoke coming out of his ears, that he was forced to change the date/time for his campaign speech.  LIVID.

  • Anonymous

    Obama played politics and the country burned.
    To be fair, I’d be prefer him to be playing politics rather than doing anything of substance, he seems to have a nasty track record of turning everything good he touches to shit.

  • Anonymous

    Good thing Designing Women isn’t still on the air and on Thursday or the President would be getting trashed by AARP too.  Gee, not a lot of respect for this guy who keeps taking prime time slots to make a very important speeches (that usually ends up being a nothing-new campaign style bitch session.

  • http://www.facebook.com/JackpotHunter Rudy Lopez

    “the President chose a joint session because his proposals will require Congressional action.”

    Question: When has Congressional action ever been a requirement for BO?

  • Anonymous

    The only reason anyone with any since would watch the Republican debates is for the comical factor. All you have is a stage full of clowns. The Repub candidates suck big time.

  • Anonymous

    OK Tommy…….(eye roll with a yawn and snore zzzz)

    There…fixed it for you!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JUT2TATEV3OHGQ7HZRYN472XVM Felix

    This is one idiot administration… sheesh!
    If it DIDN’T come up (and it should have), just goes to show you how out of touch these folks are. If it DID come up, and Opie is lying to us (again), then you can see how little these arrogant bastards think of the American people.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JUT2TATEV3OHGQ7HZRYN472XVM Felix

    and run for president.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JUT2TATEV3OHGQ7HZRYN472XVM Felix

    Darladoon, is that really you?! … did somebody steal your “lap”top?

    I can’t believe YOU questioned Dear Leader’s press corp. Things are looking up….

  • Anonymous

    Big Eddie…..You the man!!
    Libs hate the truth!!

  • Anonymous

    The speaker should resign?  Really Tommy?  I guess Harry Reid calling a sitting president stupid in public is nothing compared to the speaker asking the president to move his speech so the american people can get a look at the next president of the United States.  Tommy, are you serious?  I love you man, but you are so off base on this.

  • Wardmd

    SO, which is it?

    Do we have a President who is SO UNAWARE of what is happening in the Country, that he DOES NOT KNOW that the GOP had their debate scheduled for the same day (BEFORE he even left for his vacation)?

    OR, do we have a President who’s STAFF is SO UNAWARE of what is happening in the country, etc., etc.

    OR, do we have a President who LIES to us SO OFTEN, that he thinks we WON’T NOTICE that he just “happened” to choose the same night as the GOP Debate (it’s simply a coincidence)?

    OR, do we have a President who is SO ARROGANT that he thinks the WORLD revolves around HIM, and his predictable campaign [er, Jobs Plan] speech?

    Is it “disrespectful” for the Speaker of the House to DENY the President’s request, OR is it disrespectful of the President to send his Request to the Speaker of the House just 15 MINUTES before he ANNOUNCES to the PRESS that he WILL address a joint session of Congress (BEFORE his request has even been considered)?

  • Anonymous

    Just more manure shoveling by the the WH, move along, nothing to see here.

  • Anonymous

    Carney should resign because he is a lying sack of shit:

    Watch him repeatedly lying his ass off here:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyZs0D2D6yo

    Now read the truth here:
     

    The White House was well aware the president’s speech would conflict with a
    planned Republican debate sponsored by POLITICO and NBC to be
    held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif.
    The debate
    would be broadcast live by MSNBC and live-streamed by POLITICO. CNBC and
    Telemundo will re-air the broadcast.

    Yet the White House did not see this as an obstacle. “With all due respect,
    the POLITICO-MSNBC debate was one that was going on a cable station,”
    the White House source said. “It was not sacrosanct. We knew they would push it
    back and then there would be a GOP debate totally trashing the president. So it
    wasn’t all an upside for us.”

    http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=040BF8AD-4589-47E9-94B0-AA7E9B68390E

    When you demonstrably lie as many times as Carney did in the span of 5 minutes, I think it’s time for responsible government officials to call for his immediate resignation. He’s bereft of integrity.

  • Anonymous

    Now we get to see if any honorable press persons are left willing to point out and raise the issue that the White House Press Secretary, the persona most responsible in the executive branch to inform the people through the press about the views and goings on in government, is a liar.  Again.

  • Anonymous

    Actually MessNBC assclown Richard Wolffe has already indirectly accused Speaker Boehner of racism

  • Anonymous

    This is the reason why the JACKASS is the symbol for the Democrat party, and why Obamo is the head of that Party: He had all of 2010 to deal with a Congress that masturbated every time he spoke. If he had had his head screwed on right, Obamo would have focused on jobs THEN. But NO…the Jackass had to play Healthcare Hero instead. Now, not only do people despise him for THAT, people have NO faith on his ability to ‘pivot’ on jobs NOW. Indeed, the dweeb Carney admitted that the president can’t do anything about jobs anyway. So what we’re going to see Thursday is essentially a puppet-show campaign speech.

  • Anonymous

    See my post below about Carney being caught lying. And “catnip” shouldn’t be the word of the day. It should be “crack” for the way the Obama administration and his ass kissing media accolytes are behaving.

  • Anonymous

    F*ck the speech! Give us a freaking plan that actually stimulates industry and creates jobs and not just another way to funnel our money to unions and political contributers.

  • Anonymous

    Yeah…he’s not looking like such a grinning smart ass now, is he?

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_LDO6LIQBI2JQ4Q5MWLWBKGKSJY bensanity

    2/3 of all Dem Congressmen/women declined to hold Town Hall Meetings over the August recess. Perhaps they were the ones who were scared of being chastised by the American people.

  • Anonymous

    Obama has a jobs plan and it’s working according to plan. So far he’s destroyed jobs in the health care industry, oil drilling industry, coal production industry, and energy production industry.

  • Anonymous

    Carney reminds me of a younger, thinner Elton John….just not as butch.

  • Anonymous

    Carney reminds me of a younger, thinner Elton John….just not as butch.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_JUT2TATEV3OHGQ7HZRYN472XVM Felix

    All of their voters are “hooked” to the Democratic Party… their votes are taken for granted and they keep voting the same kind of idiots to be their representatives in Congress… unbelieveable!

  • Anonymous

    That’s just it – is he going to pass around an actual plan, documented with ink on paper??? I would venture to say no. A speech is just a speech, one that the CBO and the rest of the country can’t score. He better give specifics, or his speech is a total waste of time.

  • Anonymous

    Like your guy is any batter? Deaf, dumb and blind.

  • Anonymous

    But – is Obama livid because HIS plan against the GOP didn’t work, or because his advisors screwed the pooch on this one?  Or both?

  • Mary

    Uh,   that’s     “sense,”    RealJohn.   NOT   ‘since.”   I  can see why  you   support   Obama—stay  on  that    plantation,  ok?

  • Anonymous

    The “smoke coming out of his ears” was really just his crack pipe!

  • Anonymous

    “CNN’s Athena Jones asked Carney for specifics on the “bipartisan”
    measures that the President plans to present in next week’s joint
    session, and whether the White House had specific reason to believe that
    they would get support on the Hill.”

    Jobs are issue number one for the voting public. My guess is that the President will propose something he knows the Republicans won’t go along with, and in return, they will submit a counter-proposal that he can’t accept. Each side will blame the other for being obstinate and irresponsible and spin it to their advantage in campaigning.

    Same stuff, different day – they pat their own backs, saying they’ve tried but the opposition won’t cooperate. It’s not about solving problems for the benefit of the public. It’s about how to spin the public’s perception to their/their parties’ best political advantage. It ensures nothing is ever accomplished.

    Hate being so cynical, but I’m sick of it. It’s not one person or one party – it’s ALL of them. Politicians have become so immensely hypersensitive to how something will “play” with voters that they either do nothing or take positions that ensure solutions can’t be implemented.

    We need people who care more about the current and future state of this country than their own political careers – people who can meaningfully compromise or at least get in there and kick ass all up and down both sides of the aisle without giving a damn if it drops their approval rating. I know…not very realistic, but wouldn’t it be awesome!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_BCGXQ43JRVGCPFMNP2AQWCIHK4 Deedqtqt

    very good go—————–wwwjordanforworldcom
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  • Anonymous

    “the President chose a joint session because his proposals will require Congressional action”   What nonsense.  If you want to send a jobs program to Congress with a hope of passing it, you send a written proposal to the relevant committees.  President Obama wanted a stage on which to deliver yet another campaign speech.  It is just window dressing.

  • Anonymous

    “the President chose a joint session because his proposals will require Congressional action”   What nonsense.  If you want to send a jobs program to Congress with a hope of passing it, you send a written proposal to the relevant committees.  President Obama wanted a stage on which to deliver yet another campaign speech.  It is just window dressing.

  • Hugo Daun

    Awww…did my avatar hurt your little feelings?

    Well, make like MIchele and …suck it up!

  • L_Salazar

    The leaks at the White House are telling an entire different story.
     
    The President didn’t set this up, but he damn sure approved it.
     
    The WH thought they could spin it to blame the Republicans and it failed.
     
    Even big Democrats are saying he Caved.

  • Anonymous

    Whoever came up with the idiotic term “speechgate” should take a history lesson. 

  • Anonymous

    Obamo’s an IDIOT. Everyone KNOWS that a president has to be INVITED to speak before Congress…he can’t just ‘show up’ whenever he likes.

    Obamo famously spoke of ‘pitchforks’ and ‘enemies.’ And NOW he wants ‘civility’ and ‘bipartisanship?’

    Obamo can go to That Hot Place and have a seat next to Maxine ‘Guv-Mint Can HEP U!’ Waters.

  • http://twitter.com/Good_Lt Good Lt.

    Ah, Democrats.

    Lie, get caught lying, backtrack, deny, lie some more, backtrack, attack the GOP, lie, deny, lie…and that’s all just in one press conference.

  • Anonymous

    But, hey, he’s still creating those green jobs; I mean the US solar panel industry is going gangbust….

    Oh, sorry!  Oxycon, you can add “green jobs” to that list of Obama economic failures too!

  • Hagen619dj

    Guess he can’t get over the fact that it’s a corn dog!!!  poor sap

  • Hagen619dj

    In all honesty…it would be the NFL.. Everyone has lost interest in speech lies.

  • Hagen619dj

    Oh, roll over and open your eyes.  Can you honestly believe that Obama has done such great things for this country?  He takes really good v acations…on our dime.  As for the rest…he needs to be a one-termer, get out of public view and take his money hungry friends with him.  America has lost their respect for Obama but not for the country.  It can be brought back around.  Granted it might be too late for a quick recovery….but maybe with the right person in there and without all  the bickering …we could be saved.  NO, we respect this country…….the man has got to go.

  • Hagen619dj

    Brillient……….feel like a big guy now with your intelligent writing.??????????/

  • Hagen619dj

    So then, don’t watch!  Simple as that.  But then don’t complain if someone get’s elected that you don’t know about. Really can’t make a decision if you don’t have the info.  But that’s alright….you won’t watch it anyway.  Your too good to watch something like that.

  • Hagen619dj

    Very true.

  • Hagen619dj

    Poor baby. 

  • Lbatchelor2009

    My thoughts exactly.

  • Lbatchelor2009

     It is so very obvious that this administration can tell no truths. Later as time moves on and we follow-up on this idiot President Obama and his family. We will sadly find the fruit may not fall from the tree.  But then again why should we care he certainly does not care about the American people. 

  • http://twitter.com/Staciisa_bitch Staci Chase

    It looks like Jay’s got some new frames.  

  • Anonymous

    What Obama did was a d*ck move and everyone including honest Dems know
    it…the best thing for Obama’s cheerleaders in the MSM to do is drop it
    and start planning on how they’ll spin his speech next week when that
    bombs.

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