The Restless Press

After shamelessly shilling for Obama during the campaign and the early days of his presidency, the press is now feeling like a jilted lover:

Will Barack Obama go an entire year without holding a formal news conference? He's getting close: The president's last full-scale session with the press was on July 22, 2009, which was 307 days ago.

When Obama last held a big news conference, there had not yet been terrorist attacks at Fort Hood, Detroit, and Times Square. Scott Brown was an unknown Massachusetts state senator. There was no national health care bill, much less national health care law. Tiger Woods appeared to be a model family man.

A lot can happen in 307 days, which is far longer than George W. Bush or Bill Clinton ever went between news conferences.

In its defense, the White House says Obama answers a lot of questions from reporters, just not in the traditional news-conference setting. In fact, the president does a lot of one-on-one interviews, frequently with sympathetic reporters. But even in terms of brief question-and-answer sessions with the White House press corps, he has still done fewer than Bush or Clinton.

More troubling is that Obama makes no secret of his disdain for the press.

Byron York goes on to give some recent examples of how Obama and staff treat the press these days.

He closes the piece with this:

The situation amazes veterans of previous administrations. "I think it is astonishing that there isn't carping about this from the press every day," says former Bush White House press secretary Dana Perino. "Believe me, they would have nailed us to the wall."

In one sense, the press, or at least some members of the press, have only themselves to blame. Obama treats them with contempt because he knows that when big tests come, they've always been on his side. There's no reason for him to think they won't be there in the future. "Most of you covered me," he told the media elite at the 2009 White House Correspondents' Association dinner. "All of you voted for me."

That's the attitude coming out of the Oval Office every day. Why does Obama do it? Because he can.

I highlighted the key phrase in that passage. When things get tough for the administration the press circles their wagons and protects Obama and liberal policies, though this oil spill is starting to have an effect on that relationship. For some reason this environmental disaster seems to be the one thing that can actually turn the press against the White House. The sight of soiled coastlines and oil-soaked birds seems to be more powerful than the sight of The One with his nose stuck up in the air. The press has finally found an issue they care about more than promoting Obama.