June 28, 2009

The Nico Pitney/Dana Milbank confrontation on "Reliable Sources" — about that seeming planted question.



Pitney comments: "The only thing that surprised me was when Dana turned to me after our initial sparring and called me a 'dick' in a whispered tone (the specific phrase was, I believe, 'You're such a dick')."

29 comments:

Titushasn'thadsexinalontime said...

I would do Nico Pitney.

As a matter of fact I would do most guys named Nico.

For some reason guys with the name Nico tend to be hot.

blake said...

That's really funny.

Pitney kind of starts by pantsing him with the swimsuit thing.

Serious Dana then has to go on about collusion--which one can only assume is "it's okay for a journalist to be drooling sycophant as long as it's from the heart".

I guess that's a point.

XWL said...

Can we be sure that the sotto voce 'you're such a dick' wasn't meant as a compliment and come on?

Maybe Dana said, 'you have SUCH a dick' and Nico misheard him.

Eric said...

Yes, such a dick, busting into our cozy little cartel like that.

David said...

When they came back on air, I wish Nico had asked Dana "Why did you just whisper 'you're such a dick' to me?"

I'm no lefty, but the bottom line is that Nico asked one of the better questions at a Presidential press conference in a long time.
The response: a media catfight and some inside baseball insults.

AArgh!

Titushasn'thadsexinalontime said...

If Dana said You Have Such A Dick that would be even hotter.

Steve M. Galbraith said...

From this clip, advantage Pitney.

Still, while this particular incident isn't terrible, the precedent it sets is very questionable.

Slippery slope and all that....

Parenthetically, the argument that Milbank was a shill for the Bush White House is laughable. The fraud and buffoon Keith Olbermann never would have had him on his pretend news show if he was.

Ann Althouse said...

I think Milbank seems scared of Pitney for some reason, while Pitney -- who reminds me of Adam Lambert -- seems to be having fun.

And LOL about "pantsing him."

I'm Full of Soup said...

Haha girl fight.

Are there any real men left who work in journalism?

What pussies.

Northlander said...

This the same "serious journalist" Dana Milbank who appeared on MSNBC as a "hunter" after Cheney's shooting incident http://newsbusters.org/node/4025
Dana is just jealous he wasn't asked to grovel.

Titushasn'thadsexinalontime said...

Milbank is a big pussy.

Titushasn'thadsexinalontime said...

Asking Obama about his bathing suit? Very gay.

Titushasn'thadsexinalontime said...

OK, I am over Mark Sanford now.

Time to move on.

Although, it would of been funner if he was in Argentina seeing Mario instead of Maria.

Awesome said...

I'd say Nico's more of a pussy than a dick.

jimspice said...

Yep, that's old media vs. new media at it's best. Age vs. youth. Staid vs. loose. It's like the old high school debate rule of thumb -- never look at your opponent: one adheres, one tosses. Just on style points, Pitney get it ... Milbank doesn't.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Althouse : I think Milbank seems scared of Pitney for some reason...

It's probably just sexual tension. At one point Milbank puts one of his hands on Pitney's back and the other on his hand.

They'd make a cute couple.

TJ said...

There's a whole lot of laughing from both of them in that clip that says, You're a dick, even if no one said it explicitly.

traditionalguy said...

Watching the attitudes from each man towards the other confirms to me that there is a new style of governing sprung boldy out of the Obama operation which is indeed openly aristocratic and sneers down at plain people like Milbank who are now commoners whining about democratic rules of fair play. "We won and we can pretend anything we want to", says Nico. And Milbank is stunned that no one cares about the old democratic fair play ideals anymore. Bye, bye rule of law.

Meade said...

Good thing they balanced things by inviting Amanda Carpenter, a grown up and professional.

rcocean said...

Being very old - I can remember when TV Press Conferences with Reagan and Bush were SO IMPORTANT.

Reporters would ask hard questions and sometimes practically debate Bush/Reagan. Rather liked to shout at Republican presidents.

Then they'd always justify it as "Speaking truth to Power"

Now, who cares?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I think this is good. In some ways I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often in public.

If you like what you do and are passionate about it once in a while you are going to batten down the hatches, take names and maybe slid a throat ;)

I mean the very idea that Dana felt threaten by a blogger tells me their outlook on the print media might be as bleak as many bloggers have been predicting.

Don't look back, something may be gaining on you.

Joseph said...

I'm a little taken aback by Dana Milbank. He's the most seasoned journalist there and seems incapable of holding in his intense emotions and having a rational discussion about the event. Its funny he would use the interlude to call Nico a dick, which just furthers the image he is creating for himself... as a complete dick.

TJ said...

I'm still laughing at traditionalguy's description of Milbank as "plain." That dude's got Ivy growing out of his ears. I'm not knocking his pedigree, but a commoner, he ain't.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

It was funny reading that Milbank column.

It was Ann Coulter, Maureen Dowd material.

traditionalguy said...

Trevor...You are correct that Milbank is from an establishment background. That is why it is so notable that Obama's governing style distains Milbank's old fashioned fairness rules used among the establishment types. Remember how Pres. Obama treated the Queen of England. He and his men see themselves way above any rules that commoners have to follow, even ordinary English Queens. Milbank has never had to face this type of attitude before. Milbank, who is not common, is still trested that way by the new Aristocrats that fear no one except a politician like a Palin who can connect to the voters better than The Smiling One they serve under. Milbank is only a speed bump to this operation.

Anonymous said...

Both of those guys are prissy creeps, especially Pitney.

More Amanda Carpenter less creepy closeted gay guys having a hissy fit.

Jason said...

Reminds me of one of those Mac vs. PC commercials.

Pitney did nothing wrong. The other two chuckleheads are castigating Pitney for something the White House did. All Pitney did was prepare, and show up with a question.

Carpenter can't seem to grasp the distinction between Pitney and the Obama press office, and blaming Pitney. And where did she get this stupid idea that everyone should get a fair crack at the President? That's never been the case. The President always calls on the AP and the networks first, and that whacky old bag lady Helen Thomas gets a preferred seat in the front row.

For Milbank's part, he's defensive and obnoxious, wound too tight, and doesn't seem to grasp what Facebook and Twitter are.

Pitney mopped the floor with these two.

Kansas City said...

These two guys should be laughed at. We should be done with the self importance of "journalists" and them taking themselves so serously.

On the merits, Nico asked a good question and anyone who hangs with Olbermann has to be unreliable and not credible.

reader_iam said...

Dana's been an asshole for years. Nico's just starting out. Hmmm. Whom to judge more harshly? Someone who's been doing it for years and perhaps has lost track, due to the career trajectory and exigency thing, or someone who's had the opportunity to view from the outside for years and yet, despite the knowing snarkiness, appears to be opting into the same trajectory?

Truth be told, I don't care either way. It's an old, old story.

But here's a suggestion: Nico, perhaps rather than taking on your elder, why not co-opt and adopt Dana as a mentor? There's more than one way to skin a cat, you know (don't you?).