Valarie Jarrett Heckled And Hissed At Netroots Nation

[masuki bance]

...On Saturday morning, one of the president's closest advisers, Valerie Jarrett addressed the Netroots Nation conference in Pittsburgh. And while attendees were largely supportive throughout the question and answer session, the reception was warm at best. The defining moment, in fact, came when Jarrett was hissed and heckled.

Roughly midway through the session, Jarrett was pressed to explain why the President was "continuing so many of policies many of which he criticized as candidate Obama." Knowing the mood and makeup of the audience - largely progressive activists from across the country - she acknowledged off the bat that it was "a fair question." But from there, things grew a bit rough.

Jarrett defended the work Obama has done outlawing torture, and releasing Office of Legal Counsel memos detailing how such interrogation practices came to be. At that point, a protester in the audience screamed out a question about why the White House was trying to keep additional photographs of detainee abuse from becoming public.

"I heard somebody shout out about the pictures," Jarrett replied. "Everybody knows what's in those pictures. And this is where it gets very delicate and I know it is a touchy subject for this audience. But what he is trying to balance as president, is keeping us safe, not giving ammunition to people who already have ample ammunition from what they've seen before to be adverse to us."

More shouts and protests followed. "I can't hear you," Jarrett said. "You know what you've got to do? You've got to figure out a way to get your question on here . We are not going to have shout outs from the audience."

The moderator agreed. "This is not a town hall meeting like that," said Baratunde Thurston, of Jack and Jill Politics and The Onion. The crowd got the reference to the boisterous demonstrators at health care town halls. But they didn't stop. From the back of the room, someone shouted a question about why the private security contractor, Blackwater, was still being paid for work overseas.

"Well we are certainly trying to get rid of the no bid contracts," said Jarrett. "He has been very clear about that."

A group of individuals sitting at a table off to the side started hissing. "I hear the frustration and I hear the kind of hissing," said Jarrett. "I hear you. Settle down over there, settle down."...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/15/valarie-jarret...

The shouting down is rude.

[JamesA1102]

1. This just proves

that the jerks on the left are as rude at the jerks on the right.

[OhioBlue]

2. I agree. The shouting down is rude n/t

[boppers]

3. Taking the pictures is a war crime.

Releasing the pictures is a war crime.

Some folks don't understand this.

Some people just want to see Obama fail, and while their agenda is often to the left, their goal is conflict and chaos.

The Faux of the left is just as pathetic as the Faux of the right, fomenting anger, chaos, and dissent everywhere they go, for their own fame.

They are irrelevant. The bomb-throwers of a century ago, still trying to make change with puppets, bombs, and false outrage. Anything, as long as they get attention.

They will not go away, attention-seekers are part of society. Let them rend their viels, scream of their great injustice, and guide us to real problems.

[Jane Austin]

4. Mr. Jane Austin was there and says the Sam Stein piece is very

misleading.

Here's what he wrote me earlier today.

Sam Stein really mischaracterizes the Valarie Jarrett presentation over at HuffPo

The headline says:

Valarie Jarrett Heckled And Hissed At Netroots Nation

…and declares:

The defining moment, in fact, came when Jarrett was hissed and heckled.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/15/valarie-jarret...

I was there, and it was hardly the defining moment. Only a couple of people shouted anything during the 75 minutes she was answering questions, they were largely regarded as freaks and anomalies, she answered the Blackwater queston, and Jarrett said of the scattered booing as she closed, “go ahead and boo if you feel passionate about something, but keep coming to the table.”

Mr. JA was a political reporter for many years and is a bear about accuracy.

You can take his version to the bank versus Sam Stein's.

[uponit7771]

5. Jarrets response was constructive

[Jennicut]

6. No one should be surprised at the misleading info coming from HuffPo

What is going on over there? Does Ariana simply want more controversy to get more people to go there?

[Egnever]

9. “go ahead and boo if you feel passionate about something, but keep coming to the table

Love it!

[beachmom]

18. And Huff Po hits again. God they suck. I believe Mr. Austin. :)

[Cha]

24. Thank you, Jane..that makes me

feel a whole better about it. Makes me mad though about the continuing non accuracy in "reporting"..

[Jane Austin]

26. It makes Mr. JA mad, too.

He can barely watch "journalists" on teevee.

[vaberella]

7. I love these pricks who claim to be progressives, but act like clowns. Plenty on DU.

I've had it up to my ear on single payer and their amount of vitriol against the President...."More of the same..." "Change we can believe in..." sarcastically.

[Number23]

8. Girl, you have been on FIRE lately

I admire you so much for that. Many of us have long since stopped giving a isht about the vitriol here.

[Egnever]

10. +1

[wndycty]

11. Yes plus one

[DevonRex]

22. +A million. You said it. I've about had it here. Again.

I don't think the progressives are progressive at all. If the result is that there's no progress, then they're working for the same result the RWers are.

[Cha]

25. +1 for you, too!

Just coming at it from a different angle.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. I was there. This is lousy reporting. She was warmly received.

ONE person yelled out. ONE

I did not hear any hissing. I heard people say someone hissed but I was right up front and didn't hear it. I don't know that Jarrett heard it either.

The audience was very warm and she got a standing ovation.

This reporter must not have been there.

[countingbluecars]

13. Thanks for the truth! n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. Just checked my notes - I did hear some hissing

Guess it wasn't that big of a deal. I forgot all about it.

[MasonJar]

14. Why isn't he releasing the photos; the courts ordered it? Why isn't he investigating

war crimes? Why is Blackwater still getting paid to kill innocent people? Why let convicted GOPers like Stevens off the hook and do nothing about Seigelman, who was clearly railroaded? Why are the Bush attorneys general like those in Alabama still in office? Why? Shouted or not, these questions deserve an answer!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zulchzulu]

15. More proof of how there are whiny tinfoil hatter nutjobs on all sides

These people are attention whores and usually have personal problems that they inject in public.

A reasonable discussion on issues can be good for everyone, but when you have the halfwit hecklers trying to get attention for their narcissistic tendencies, it can turn such events into the usual nonsense.

[beachmom]

19. They are a distinct minority though. Based on my experience at last year's conference,

they tend to be louder than the majority, who tends to be quieter.

[beachmom]

17. I was at NN last year. All it takes is 5 rude jerks to embarrass everyone else.

Unbelievable. Have your piece, idiots, and stop being rude!!!

[JNelson6563]

20. There's a big difference between the tubes and RL

But some don't spend enough time in the real world so they behave like the morons that they are on the tubes.

It's just that simple.

Julie

[Phx_Dem]

21. Figures. Apparently, progressives are just as rude as wingnuts.

[DevonRex]

23. We had a call on DU for progressives to shut down the town halls.

So I'm not surprised at all.