Signs of Life from the WH press Corps

The Castrati of the White House Press Corps clearly fumbled the ball the other night. They had a shot at the Big man, live on national TV and failed to make him impart anything resembling actual information to anyone.

In other words, a typical day for them. However there are hints the press may have found the file cabinet where they keep their balls; ( or maybe Helen Thomas has just become a testosterone donor )

From yesterday's Press "briefing" with the Scott-bot

Q Scott, I'm confused by something the President said in his press conference the other night where he's talking about Social Security and he says that it spends the money on current retirees and with the money left over, it funds other government programs, and all that's left behind is file cabinets full of IOUs. Those IOUs are U.S. Treasury obligation, and it's the sovereign debt of the United States. Is he saying something about something the U.S. possibly defaulting on those IOUs? Isn't that guaranteed?

see? Now look there. A reporter actually asking a question supported by actual , researched facts!

Now ol' Scotty, he's a pro, he wasn't about to fall into the trap of actually saying anything factual in response:

MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I think that the President, if you'll recall, went to West Virginia and stood in front of the file cabinet to point out to people what the trust fund really is. I mean, most people when they think of a trust fund, I think you would agree, believe that money is being set aside in account, and that it's their money and that they're going to receive that money back. Well, that's not the case. ..

take THAT regurgitated lump of the president's stump speech you worm!

But then, an odd thing happened. Instead of scuttling dutifully away, the reporter pressed the point!

Q Well, it is the case to the extent that the United States guarantees that it will repay on that. If the United States government, if the President or if any President decides he wasn't going to repay that debt, then, of course, they argue it --

gasp He actually flatly contradicted the press secretary!

Scotty decided he'd better try a a combo Stump Speech/non-sequitur twist:

MR. McCLELLAN: What is happening now under the current Social Security system, as the President has talked about, is a pay-as-you-go system. Money is being paid in to support today's retirees. So that money is not being set aside, it's being spent by the government.

And the President, one thing he has talked about, is the importance of personal accounts...Personal accounts will be something that is your money, it's being set aside, it's real savings. It's not phantom savings.

"cause phantom savings are bad see? They're scary, like ghosts! Ghost savings accounts that will float around rattling their chains and scaring the crap out of old people who will have heart attacks and die! Do we really want a system that scares our seniors to death? Do We?!

But like Night of the Living Dead, this reporter just kept coming. He had yet another follow-up question ready. The he actually tried to use "logic"!

Q Just to follow up, Scott. But even if you have your money in dollar bills, if the United States decides that they aren't going to guarantee that dollar bill, that money is worthless, too -- the same way with U.S. Treasury obligations. People buy them. They used to buy them for 30 years, because they were confident that the U.S. was not going to default on them. And what the President seems to be indicating is that that possibility does exist. What does he mean by that?

At that moment you could sense a great disturbance in the Force as if millions of Currency traders held their breath in terror that the white house was about to massively devalue the US dollar with a stupid answer.

Fortunately, realizing how far out on the limb he really was Scotty retreated with a blizzard of furious non-sequiturs and a lightning fast subject change:

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, it's the difference between real savings and phantom savings. It's what I just explained. Would you agree that a trust fund is where you set aside someone's money, and it's their money, and that they get it back?

Q It's no good unless the person issuing the money --

MR. McCLELLAN: That's not what's happening under the current system.

Q -- is going to -- Brain melting! Must. Continue to think logically!

Q Scott, should North Korea look at Iraq for a lesson on the consequences of not getting right with the international community?

had that failed, Scott was all ready with "now Look here, Chewbacca is a Wookie, yet he lives on Endor..."

Like I said, baby steps but a start. Testicles do not grow back overnight (trust me after that incident with the mousetrap, the bologna and the seven Russian hookers I should know) But with a little practice these boys and girls may actually grow up to ask real hard questions of their elected