Andrea Mitchell Compares McCain Press Treatment To North Korea, Syria

Tonight on the Rachel Maddow Show, NBC's Andrea Mitchell drew a line between the McCain campaign's unprecedented avoidance of the press and the restrictive practices in countries like North Korea and Syria.

Maddow recounted how McCain officials had refused to allow editorial reporters into meetings with Sarah Palin and foreign leaders today, and asked whether press access to such events was standard practice.

"It is standard practice," Mitchell responded. "It's standard for the White House, for the State Department. And often we are in foreign countries where it is not standard practice, like in Pyongyang or in Damascus, and usually the State Department insists upon it and then we are at risk for whatever happens. ... But that's not by by American officials and certainly not by Republican campaign officials running a national election here in the United States."

Comments

[irisda]

This is called the erosion of democracy. I think McCain dreams to turn this country into something else. be very afraid

[johnnygoodwud]

thanks andrea, good comparison. she is acting like some bimbo, who has nothing to say, unless it's pre-prepared for her. what comes to mind is the questions they sometimes ask at beauty pagents, and the wackie answers. oh wait she was a beauty queen right? sexist,,,,,,,,,,,,it's the mccain campaign that's sexists. obama should do a couple ads about that,,,,,,,,,,or perhaps better yet, a few 527's.

[ldaniel65]

If America wants transparency in government JM/SP is not the ticket, can't you see that!!

[Whinger]

Think it's bad now, just imagine what it would be like if McCain ever made it to the White House!

[openhand]

So is Palin going to ask Kissenger about his children... or his favorite coups..

[grf67]

The fundamentalists running the mccain campaign have apparently have more in common with syria than America. This is not the croud we need in Washington - 8 years has been more than enough.

[mscriblerus]

They really should stop complaining. When the press decided to passively disseminate campaign news and let party operatives debate about what the truth was, they set themselves up as tools. All the talk about how unprecedented this is it won't change their status as tools. They all just got jerked around and made fools of (29 sec. of coverage?) and tomorrow they'll be jerked around and made fools of again.

[TommyMcCarthy]

I'd give anything to hear what a conversation between Henry Kissinger and Sarah Palin might sound like.

If the SNL writers are not working something up in this regard I'd be totally amazed!
tm

[iluvsam]

I'm sure she didn't even know who Henry Kissinger was before the meeting.

[WFV]

Her campaign staff didn't even spell his name correctly. Did anyone see that on the news last night? Yeeeeeeesh.

[Marxist-Messiah]

Oh, the "poor" media. It took them a while, but they've finally managed to destroy any remnants of credibility. They can cry wolf all they want now.

I'm surprised McCain even went on the View. These bitter hens tried to seduce Obama and Bill Clinton, yet brought out hatchets for their interview of McCain?

They are now free to talk about Barack, all day and all night. This is what they wanted from the start, now their wish has come true.

[Nickesq]

So, is this your effort to explain why the McCain campaign has muzzled Sarah? If all the media was like Fox, an organ of the Republican party, McCain would have no problem looking half-way sane and getting questions even Sarah could answer.

[aliceinthewater]

Aren't you slightly offended by this? I mean come on you are smart enough to know that if a Democrat did this you'd be calling for his or her head.

It's not the media. It's about asking questions of a person who has the possibility of being one heartbeat away from the most powerful office in our country.

In other words, "Spare me your phony outrage."

[eden4barack08]

Speaking of the View, you cons are whining and BSing as usual, and I know you have difficulty with reason, logic and truth, but here it is anyway.
Obama's View appearance that you're all whining about as favorable, is first of all from March of this year, during primaries, a different battle. Second, go to Youtube and listen to the entire segment, and you'll find the "seduction" part to be one second, compared to the next 23 minutes of politics.
While you're there, on Youtube, look also at past McCain View appearances, during the primaries, he was comfortable and at home on the ladies' couch, probably because he was still floating above the mud at that time. The one he just had was the first post-RNC official nomination appearance, and it happened just in the week, where he was drowning in the mud. Of course the questions were tougher, the whole battle is tougher now, and he decided to make it sink below ground, so you could not expect another soft interview like the one he had during the primaries, when he still didn't even have an opponent, as Hillary and Obama were still at it.

cont'd

[eden4barack08]

cont'd

Now, if Obama will do a post-DNC official nomination appearance, THAT, is the one you'll have to hold up, if any, as comparison to the last one of McCain. The comparison you fools are making now, is that of apples and oranges. I know you're deliberately doing it to perpetuate your whining against the "biased" media, it's part of your platform, if you don't demonize the media, your own base loses interest, but still, I just felt like reminding you of the truth, as useless as I know it to be to your ilk.

[athenasword]

The ladies of The View were well within the bounds of correctness. As usual they were insightful, smart, informed and wicked funny. They gave good questions, got lousy answers. How can you defend this ticket? Unfit/Unprepared

[MarcoEsquandolas]

just an fyi that Rachel Maddow is a rich woman's Samantha Ronson

[BuickBoy57]

Ah Marco, you're just jealous.

[Herb1843]

And your point is . . . ?

[obamasOHangel]

Uhh Samantha was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

And since when does the DJ hold a PhD?

Don't insult Dr. Maddow like that.

[NoToGOP08]

You're jealous of her cos she makes sense, and has great ratings. Pretty soon she'll be kicking BillO the clown. I'm waiting for that show.

[GuyFawkes]

Let's stop talking about this woman. She's been relegated to the backseat that all VP nominees eventually sit in. This is Obama v. McDeregulation. Every poll is bearing that out. Sanity has returned. All she did was solidify a base that wasn't going to vote for Obama anyway. She may actually have pushed independents and moderats to Obama.

[TheHandyman]

The real Guy Fawkes would disagree with you. She stands a damn good chance of being Pres given McSames medical history. And that alone makes her an issue that should be kept in the forefront. The fact that she is not what she nor McSame say she is is another point to use and use judiciously! You can not ignore her.

[sleek]

Looking at Palin exposes what a FRAUD McCain really is for selecting someone like her.

[LemonMeringue]

Maybe the media will finally recognize fascism when it affects them personally.

[Oldtimer]

You give the media too much credit. It took way too long for news anchors to make the press ban
Sarah Palin's lead story. It should have been her lead the moment Repubicans made it their Sarah strategy. News anchors should have begun a day count the way Chris Wallace at FOX
started counting for Obama's appearance on their shows.

[KathyinCT]

This is the same CNN that has a story posted with headline about "Biden not doing press conferences EITHER" -- comparing Palin, who has NEVER done a press conference since being nominated, to Biden, who hasn't done one for TWO WHOLE WEEKS.

Give us a break with the outrage, Campbell.

[EvSmith]

Are you a real tro// or just some creeps hand in a sock ?

[dsbsh]

Time to read more carefully. KathyinCT was making a fair point about CNN: just because Campbell called out McCain this time doesn't make CNN, or the press in general, knights in shining armor. There was a great deal of (undeserved) puffing up of Palin in Campbell Brown's sexism rant.

[rzan1]

I think you are wrong. Campbell used the charge of sexism to inflate Palin's abilities rather than seeing the GOPs effort to "protect" Palin as a need to cover up her lack of ability to talk about the issues. But perhaps this was the way to criticize the GOP without putting Palin down and thus inciting Palin's "fans."

[Americanium]

So when did the MSM realized they were being hoodwinked?

This feigned outrage by Campbell Brown is as bogus as Fox News' claim to Fair and Balance news coverage.

The MSM has enabled and I might add emboldened the McCain Campaign in its middle finger gesture to the American public. The MSM has a choice of not covering the McCain Campaign until they get treated with respect.

Until then. a plague on all their houses!!!

[LittleRedHenSez]

Maybe she really is mad. She fawned ad nauseum over Palin's speech at the Republican convention. Perhaps she thought that would give her an edge to get an interview with the woman. Beware the press. They are fickle when there is no quid pro quo.+

[EvSmith]

How can McCain / Palin ever hope to win campaigning like this? HOW?
No one has ever won a presidential election by shutting out the press this way.
His handlers must know it's too much. He's having a really hard time with all of the demands of this campaign ( like the demands of some in the media (Joy Behar) that he come clean on the lies/smears) . His people don't have any confidence in him, or her, or themselves either.

A vote for J. Mac., the Republican nominee, is really a vote for Charlie Black and Rick Davis and Randy Sheunemann and the rest of them.

A vote for J. Mac and his wolves is NOTHING more than a vote against Obama. It's that simple.

[SOOKOOYAH GURL]

Trust me, there is a possibility they can win. WHY?

#1 A large chunk of this country is uneducated and incapable of reasoning. They tend to believe gossip. If you can't read or think, how can you fact check?

#2 Half or more of the country are hardcore Jesus freaks who have somehow thought it is their god given right to merge POLITICS with religion. That means they are not voting for the same issues both you and I are concerned about like healthcare, education, housing, employment.. Heck they are more concerned with if some random woman decides to have an abortion - even while they are shelling out money for their daughter to have her own abortion.

[EvSmith]

I think the pukes are praying for racism.

[TheHandyman]

The mere fact that most of them believe in creationism instead of evolution is scary enough but they want to make sure the rest of us do too whether we like it or not! These morons are still driving around with Bush?Cheney stickers on their cars!

[PhilTListener]

I would agree with your first point, however the "large chunk" could use some clarification. Is that 20%, 40%, 60%?
Those in power thrive on controlling the flow of information and it is in their best interests to "reign" over an uninformed, uninterested populace.

Point two I believe is downright derogatory. By using the term "Jesus freaks" as a smear you are doing the same thing the right does when it tries to categorize Democrats as "elitists". You are dehumanizing and objectifying other human beings to make it easier to attack them. I doubt that half of the country are what you portray them to be. I know many educated christians who know and believe the basic tenet of our country is separation of church and state.

As Jesus said, "give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's".

You do yourself a disservice and minimize the effectiveness of your post by that one statement.