By Jonathan Weisman,Wall Street Journal
so much for the most “open and transparent administration”
President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold a press conference on Tuesday to field two questions,one from an American reporter,another from an Indian journalist – four if we’re lucky,according to White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
Over eight days in four Asian countries,Obama took all of two questions from the U.S. reporters whose organizations spent tens of thousands of dollars to follow him across the globe. White House aides shrugged off the criticism,saying they were only abiding by the rules of the host countries. A “press conference” in Beijing entailed opening statements from Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao,followed by no questions at all — zero.
Now the home turf is the White House and the trend continues. Customarily,press conferences with visiting heads of state have been truncated affairs,but they usually allowed three questions,maybe four,for each side.