Elmer's Brother

After the news conference Gregory had to be restrained.

NBCNEWS chief White House correspondent David Gregory warned President Bush's spokesman on Monday not to be a "jerk!"

The heated exchange came during a press gathering at the White House.

Gregory asked White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan about the Cheney hunting accident.

'David, hold on, the cameras aren't on right now,' McClellan replied. 'You can do this later.'

'Don't accuse me of trying to pose to the cameras,' Gregory said, voice rising. 'Don't be a jerk to me personally when I'm asking you a serious question.'

'You don't have to yell,' McClellan said.

'I will yell,'' said Gregory, pointing a finger at McCellan at his dais. 'If you want to use that podium to try to take shots at me personally, which I don't appreciate, then I will raise my voice, because that's wrong.'

'Calm down, Dave, calm down,' said McClellan. (a voice of reason)

'I'll calm down when I feel like calming down,' Gregory said. 'You answer the question.'

(anybody else believe the liberal elitists media isn't angry)

'I have answered the question,' said McClellan, who had maintained that the vice president's office was in charge of getting the information out and worked with the ranch owner to do that. 'I'm sorry you're getting all riled up about.'

'I am riled up,' Gregory said, 'because you're not answering the question."

(Well we can't understand you when you're frothing at the mouth)

I got something for them all to wear to the next press conference.

This wasn't easy to find and I had a lot of explaining to do but hey my wife's cool.

Mr. Gregory sent this from his vacation home.

Even Helen Thomas got in on the act.

Planet Moron weighs in. (hilarious)

Here's some more from Frontline.

Because of the Armstrong family's long-standing professional relationship with reporter Jaime Powell, Katharine Armstrong called Powell around 8 a.m. Sunday and left voice mail messages to return the call. Powell, who was in Austin, did not immediately receive the messages. [...]

Once in the newsroom, Powell spoke to Armstrong again and said she wanted to talk with the vice president, whom she had met last year at the funeral of Katharine Armstrong's father, Tobin. Cheney came to the phone and briefly spoke with Powell - so far his only public comment on the matter. [...]

"You had a relationship with my father," Armstrong told Powell. "You and I had a relationship and that relationship had grown stronger after my father's death, and my family was comfortable with calling the hometown newspaper."

Maybe it's the pride in my staff talking, but I believe the White House press corps is whining just a bit because this news came first through a local daily newspaper's Web site and not following a mass press briefing thousands of miles away from the accident.

We got the story first by consistently working hard and professionally and gaining the trust of our sources. And because we did, the rest of the world got the story, too.

"We knew we needed to make it public," Armstrong told Powell. "It was a private weekend hosted by a private family, and we were comfortable calling the hometown paper and you. I trust you."

Averyt is exactly right. Cheney and his friends, the Armstrongs, went through the local press because they did not trust the White House press corps to break the news in a professional and responsible manner. After all, would you trust this man with such a sensitive story? How about this guy?