The following statement was just released by the White House Correspondents' Association regarding GannonGuckertGate. The statement was passed to me from a White House correspondent who isn't a hooker, I think:
Since 1914, the White House Correspondents' Association has operated independently of the White House and the White House credentialing process. We intend for the White House Correspondents' Association to remain independent of that process.
Consistent with the First Amendment, the White House Correspondents' Association stands for inclusiveness in the credentialing process so that the White House remains accessible to all journalists. We hope that individual episodes do not obscure the broader principles of a fair and evenhanded credentialing process that serves the goal of free and full exchange of information.
Yes, the White House Correspondents' Association doesn't want to weigh in on the battle of who is and isn't a journalist. Apparently, the First Amendment prohibits journalists from defining what exactly it is they do for a living. Man, if it's unconstitutional to have any requirements for journalism, then I want to be op ed editor of the Washington Post, or I'm gonna sue.
As one White House correspondent told me today:
"The more the White House Correspondents' Association weighs in on this, the more it makes some of us think the association is best left to throwing a dinner and should stay way from any issues of importance. The White House Correspondents' Association over the last couple of years has been a lapdog outfit answering to this administration."
