Friday 26 March 2021

The Biden 'Hour'?

 So the first press conference came and went....an hour's worth.  My three observations:

1.  Journalist-wise, from the dozen or so allowed in the room....it was a 3rd-grader classroom, and everyone hyped to ask only simple questions.  I watched the whole thing once over, and then watched a couple of the journalists in a second review.  I probably have even less respect for White House journalists than I had four years ago.

2.  Notes?  A couple of times....he avoided notes.  But on particular questions....he goes straight to the notes and reads extensively.  It's something that Obama, Trump, Clinton, etc....would never have done.  I would make a guess that 40 percent of the effort involved the notes.

3.  Finally, there's several points where he does the intense (5-star), you-need-to-believe-me sequence, with 99 'ripples' of his forehead in full action.  It was just odd....very intense 'you need to trust me' feature of this press conference.

On rating against press conferences of the past forty-odd years....I'd rate this as an odd event, and if it's repeated like this....it's a joke.  Another one for 2021?  It wouldn't shock me if the next one didn't occur until August (after summer vacation). 

FOOTNOTE: To be honest....there's nothing new that you would have learned via this hour, period.  It's just odd....guy speaks for a full hour, and there's nothing 'new' via his comments.  

FOOTNOTE: There's some point....minute 40 to 45....you can get this 10-second pause where you sense he's tired and not readily focused.  My advice....if he ever wants to do a second episode....limit the chat to twenty to thirty minutes max.

No comments: