Pixiq

Yes, this was the change I voted for… looks suspiciously like the Bush years to me.

Whoever ordered this should be fired.
akagoldfish´s last blog ..operator 44201

It looked to me that that they were pushing everyone away not just journalists.

Press” You want to take the public out that’s fine but let us do our jobs.” Contempt For the American people Not only comes from our Public servants but Of course also from the Press itself who are owned by corporations. That statement itself is why THE PUBLIC has no defense. It is why they don’t ask Questions OR stand up and say HEY HOW CAN WE BE AT WAR IF NO WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED.
The Whores Call it a War. WE sheep believe it. YOU Professional photographers are HALF the problem

“The Whores Call it a War. WE sheep believe it. YOU Professional photographers are HALF the problem.”

HO-CHEE-MAMA!!

If that’s the Dan Choi arrest, it happened on 20 April, not today.

And that’s a US Park Police officer showing off his tact and diplomacy. Kinda disappointing, because the Park Police guys are usually pretty decent.

To be honest, I think the cops just freaked because they had to arrest people in uniform. Wearing a uniform to a political civil disobedience protest is very jarring to others who wear the uniform. Hence the flawed and over-reactive police decision to call a drastic clear-the-park play.

And never mind my brain-dead comment on the date. That IS Dan Choi getting arrested (again!) along with 5 other uniformed veterans, and it WAS today, 20 April.

Happy 4/20, Nate!

I suspect the only reason “Obama haters” would be blaming Obama is that during the previous administration that’s what the “Bush haters” did.

Seriously, Carlos, when you make comments like that you simply p*ss off 50% of your audience. Not a good way to keep the cause non-partisan.

Focus on the real issue, not your petty BS.

Oh for fuck’s sake, get off it already.

Would it make you happier if I would have said the same thing about Bush haters saying the same thing if it happened during the previous administration?

Well, you’re right, they would have. So there.

And the reason I said that is because, well, just read the comments here.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0410/Most_transparent_White_House...

Little bit sensitive there….

No, I’m cool. Just posted quickly without thinking it out.

No worries. Things can be personal.

My point was, that if you turn your site into a Left/Right wing versus the Right/Left wing, you lose half the support. Stay on target, don’t alienate half your audience for no reason. To be honest, there’s not that much difference between the two sides on this issue.

Not nearly as scary as:

http://www.binscorner.com/pages/d/death-threats-against-bush-at-protests...

What police agency was this?

This bit about the public being different from the press, in the words of the man talking on the phone in the video, is part of the problem. We are all citizens and we all have the same rights. The press being in bed with the government is one of the precise reasons the bloggers are so important right now, because in most instances, bloggers are just regular citizens with an interest in politics. I’m a little upset that people think the press should have some sort of special access. That’s bull.

“Freedom of the Press” in the First Amendment means of the printing press not an elite profession. It was never meant to be a profession that has special rights, but instead people like bloggers disseminating their political beliefs to maintain a public discourse.

As a member of the White House Press Corps from 1995-2001, and as one who still has many friends active in the WHPC, I can say with validity and experience that the Obama White House is FAR less open and secretive than the Clinton or Bush White Houses.

Obama has gone to lengths to ditch the press, something unheard of since the Kennedy assassination, the point at which press were allowed to attend any outside or public event. The lack of public coverage of the Kennedy assassination is what changed the WH policy.

I agree completely with the other posters above. I LOVE this site, it’s here for very good reasons and Carlos does an EXCELLENT job. Hence, there is NO reason to make any political statements against past or current presidents of any type, UNLESS it’s because a president is directly tied to a photography issue.

As others have said, all pro or apparently pro Obama statements simply push away roughly 50% of the audience and slant the intention of this forum.

I literally make this site my first hit every AM, as I am always sadly “excited” to see what entity violated rights, morals and sense per photographers since the day before. Instead, this AM, the forum took a political step which cannot help the quality here.

If you are for Obama, a comment like this won’t likely boost your view of this forum. But it you are against Obama, a comment such as this liekly will taint your opinion and the perceived objectiveness of this forum.

Carlos, keep it politics free and keep kicking ass. You, no doubt, did not mean to offend anyone. But that’s what happened and there was no need for it. You can’t say it wasn’t the Obama WH’s position to push these protestors back, just like others can’t say it was. No reason to grasp at straws to make a small attack on those who do not feel Obama is a good presidential choice.

Mike S

Washington, DC is a fascism zone in the US. It’s as though constitutional rights don’t apply in the capital.
Josh Saint Jacque´s last blog ..Don’t Forget China’s Government is Still Evil

It was hardly a political statement, just more of an observation on the comments on the other site.

It was really more of a sarcastic statement on those commenters than anything else.

The incident took place directly in front of the White House during a political protest, so it’s really impossible to remove politics from this story.

I know damn well that these incidents are happening regardless of who is in the White House.

Nobody asked you to remove the location of the story or what the protestors were protesting about, just noted that it would be smart to remove your personal politics to not offend 50% of your readers.

Musicians and actors have found this out the hard way.

I love you blog, Carlos. Most enlightening and entertaining forum on the net that I read. Your entire blog is based on freedom of speech and, OF COURSE, you can directly post or even just elude to your feelings as you desire (here or anywhere). But don’t expect it to not come at a cost or for your part of your users not to object to your postings, as you apparently object to people who blame things on Obama.

I couldn’t care less about this instance, really. It was small and not a big deal, but it has gained a little life through your replies, in my opinion.

Keep up the good work. Your blog is needed and will wield more power and correct more issues the more readers/users it has.

Cheers,

Mike

Mike,

I’ve never denied my politics on this site. But I’ve also learned that politics is a touchy subject.

However, if people can’t handle a smart ass remark every once in a while, then they’re just too sensitive.

It’s not like I’m forbidding people from stating their own politics in the comments section.

Political affiliation is really an irrelevant issue on this site. I know my readers are divided equally among liberals, conservatives and libertarians but we all believe in the main issue.

But the truth is, a lot of the Obama haters were blaming him for making the call.

Should I just ignore that little detail?

Of course not, but can you cite where anyone is blaming Obama for making this call?

More importantly, perhaps, can you cite where Obama or people from his admin didn’t order the action?

Otherwise it’s just an opinion with no factual merit, a simple guess that he was not involved.

In debate, the person who makes the statement is obligated to defend/prove it. It’s not the obligation of others to prove a statement wrong, but the obligation of the person making the claim to prove it.

Carlos, it’s obvious you unintentionally stepped on some toes. It’s no big deal, really. Many users here were just pointing out that placing unneeded politics into this fine site is something that will offend many.

Mike

If you do not want your toes stepped on, do not stick them out. This is a good lively discussion, if you do not offend some one you probably have nothing to say. Democracy is often not very pretty and is very disorderly. In fact it is normally a knock down, drag out, fight. Piece and order is a sign of totalitarianism, not freedom. There comes a time in all mens lives when he wants to” hoist the black flag and start slitting throats”. Hoist the flag and give them hell!