The Pressitutes: Obama’s Lewinsky

President Barack Obama wanted to put a human face on his plans to overhaul health care, and a Virginia supporter did just that at a town hall meeting [campaign stop] on Wednesday. Fighting back wantonly staged tears, Debby Smith, 53, told Obama of her kidney cancer and her inability to obtain health insurance or hold a job.

Smith, or “Exhibit A” as Fearless Reader called her, is from Appalachia, VA, and a volunteer for Organizing for America, Fearless Reader’s political operation within the Democratic National Committee. She obtained her ticket through the White House.

The snake oil salesman answered questions from a member of the Service Employees International Union and a member of Health Care For America Now. The audience was stacked and the questions were pre-selected. The political sham made for good television but in no way informed the public about socialized medicine.

The pageant of subterfuge at the town hall meeting was exposed by Helen Thomas who has covered the White House during every presidency since John F. Kennedy.

Following a testy exchange during a briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.

“I'm amazed. I'm amazed at you people who call for openness and transparency and—” “It's shocking. It's really shocking.” “It's a pattern. It's a pattern of controlling the press.” “Your formal engagements are pre-packaged.”

And now this:

For $25,000 to $250,000, The Washington Post is offering lobbyists and association executives off the record, non-confrontational access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and the paper's own reporters and editors.
The astonishing offer is detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health-care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he feels it's a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its "health care reporting and editorial staff."

UPDATE: To view the WaPo flyer click here.

Via Michelle Malkin
Via Patterico’s Pontifications
Via CNSNews.com
Via Washington Monthly
Via Memeorandum