The recent, controversial comments made by the venerable White House Press Room presence Helen Thomas forged a moment that demanded the seriousness of the White House Press Corps. And, true to the needs of that moment, the White House Press Corps got serious: serious about jockeying over who would take Thomas's cushy front row seat, that is!
It's a singular issue that lies at the nexus of so many of the things that the Press Corps values: lame perks, proximity to power, dickish oneupsmanship...and the matter was well lampooned by "The Daily Show's" Jon Stewart last night. "Maybe you think that if you're sitting up front, the President might invite you up on stage like Courtney Cox at a Bruce Springsteen concert," Stewart quipped, before showing a brief montage of the terrible sorts of questions that typically get lobbed at Robert Gibbs.
Stewart went on to mock last weekend's super cool party that Joe Biden held for reporters that had water slides and bouncy houses. "Are you journalists, or are you rushing a sorority?" Stewart asked.
For the time being, Fox News and Bloomberg are said to be fighting over the seat with a red hot intensity. It's a big deal to a lot of people! For my part, I just don't care. We're talking about two organizations whose correspondents already have a seat and get called on all the time already. As our own Ryan Grim suggested, maybe the most appropriate thing to do here is to put everyone on a roadmap to a "two-seat solution."
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