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As Eric Holder’s position becomes increasingly indefensible the American media have actually resorted to journalism to protect their own credibility

Major media outlets boycott Holder meeting



Eric Holder, embattled Attorney General of the United States and leader of President Obama’s Department of Justice; decided it was prudent, in an increasingly desperate move to save his job, to have an off the record session with reporters. The initial meeting was scheduled for May 30.
These kinds of sessions have become a staple of White House strategy during the Obama Administration. The idea is that of inviting in the reporters for a chat to ‘clue them in’ while at the same time prohibiting them from saying anything. It’s really a cynical form of manipulation. These meetings were part of a review on how the justice department conducts investigations involving reporters, following revelations that Holder personally approved an investigation of Fox News reporter James Rosen, as well as members of the Associated Press, without their knowledge. The increasingly weak looking rational is that records were taken as part of investigations into leaking classified information to the media. What’s becoming apparent is that the American media, for so long the cleanup crew of Barack Obama, have finally had enough. A slow trickle began to pick up steam Thursday as a growing list of media outlets decided to boycott the meeting, refusing to go along with the Attorney-General’s little game unless he was willing to speak on the record.

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New York Times, Fox News, Reuters and the Associated Press news agency are among those refusing to attend, along with CNN, CBS, and the Huffington Post. However ABC, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal said they will attend. NBC News, another major broadcaster, did not comment. This stand by the media is alarming for the White House who have generally been able to count on the boycotter’s (with the exception of Fox) to give them favorable treatment. It is actually hard to imagine the Obama Administration would have accomplished anywhere near as much of their agenda without them. Reuters spokeswoman Barb Burg suggested the news agency would welcome the opportunity to hear from Holder on the matter of the subpoenas but said "[we] believe firmly his comments should be for publication." Meanwhile New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson said "Our Washington bureau is aggressively covering the department's handling of leak investigations at this time," and subsequently that it would not be "appropriate" for the newspaper to attend an off-the-record meeting. Clearly the White House is becoming concerned as the series of scandals that have hit Washington are beginning to impact the President’s approval rating with one poll showing him losing 4 points in recent weeks. That has no doubt attracted attention and put the Justice Department into a defensive posture. While the Administration may yet skate away unharmed on the Benghazi incident, as well as on Fast & Furious, the accounts of reporters being wiretapped and the IRS injecting themselves into the political process has irked many Americans. The drip, drip, drip of information is taking its toll and the vultures are smelling blood. As Eric Holder’s position becomes increasingly indefensible the American media have actually resorted to journalism to protect their own credibility. This is not the ‘random acts of journalism’ frequently alluded to by Rush Limbaugh, but a solid and growing attempt to cover the truth concerning the President and his people. The Republicans in Washington are largely and predictably nowhere on this. All of their organizational talent (with principles) are busy preparing to sue the IRS for violating their constitutional rights. Indeed it may be appropriate to call future Republican ballot box successes random acts of democracy. We’ve still a long way to go with the media, most of them are committed leftists and will continue to highlight the successes of liberalism (real or imagined) while magnifying the slightest flaws identified in conservatism, Christianity, or any kind of patriotic act. But moments like this bring hope that all is not yet lost, and Lady Liberty may yet prevail.


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David C. Jennings -- Bio and Archives

David Jennings is an ex-pat Brit. living in California.

A Christian Minister he advocates for Traditional & Conservative causes.

David is also an avid fan of Liverpool Football Club and writes for the supporters club in America

David Jennings can be found on Twitter
His blog can be read here


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