Does anyone have experience with past administration WH press briefings?

[Kablooie]

I keep watching Scotty's press briefings and I'm continually amazed at what a waste of time they are. I can't understand how intelligent reporters don't go insane listening to the same empty blather day after day, week after week.

I'm asking if anyone out there was involved in previous administration press briefings and if they were similar. I 'm wondering if it's always been the practice of the WH to evade answering everything. I never paid much attention before but now I can see they as often as I want and they make my brain hurt.

[flordehinojos]

1. i understand and share your frustration.

History tells us that at least the reagan white house and poppy's four year at the oval office did the same thing. perhaps not to the artful degree that this white house does it.

reagan had them mesmerized with his acting, or by the fact that he was an actor before. poppy by his money and the display covertly or overtly of his power.

other administrations (and i am thinking about the kennedy administration) had intelligent men who could answer a question intelligently, or perhaps honestly say, i cannot answer that question.

that is what i've gathered from people who have worked in other administrations and whom i have heard talk on c-span when c-span was a decent channel to listen to.

[msgadget]

2. I was trying to recall that today as well

while I watched Scott channel the president. For awhile there he had the same gestures, head tilt, speech cadence - damn scary thing to watch.

I have a feeling all WH administrations must want to put their spin on things, control the amount of information that gets out. The way he handles things isn't about that so much as pounding in the message of the day and his favorite thing is to say he's already answered what a reporter asks. I got a good hint at his frame of reference when he said an article was political because it contained criticisms of the administration...and then accused the WaPo guy of putting words in his mouth when he asked him about it. He seems mad all the time, like he's about to have a tantrum. I don't recall seeing that or such obvious contempt under other administrations. The right encourages contempt for the curious, it's their thing.

[grasswire]

3. here's a transcript from the Lewinsky era

...where Mike McCurry is getting grilled. He uses some of the same techniques Snotty uses now, but he seems to give out a bit more info and is better-humored, I think.

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/01/21/transcripts/mccurry/