There was a small dust-up this week between the President and Carla Marinucci, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

“White House officials have banished one of the best political reporters in the country from the approved pool of journalists covering presidential visits to the Bay Area for using now-standard multimedia tools to gather the news.

“The Chronicle’s Carla Marinucci – who like many contemporary reporters, has a phone with video capabilities on her at all times – shot some protestors interrupting an Obama fundraiser at the St. Regis Hotel.”

I really do understand the fact that the President does not appreciate protestors.  He has not shown a gracious attitude to anyone who disagrees with him on anything, but peaceful protest is legal in America and reporting that protest is part of the media’s job.

However, the story does not end here.  Neither Press Secretary Jay Carney or anyone at the White House will speak on the record about the banishment of Ms. Marinucci.  Chronicle Editor Ward Bushee reported that people in the White House communications office told him that if the newspaper reported the banishment of Ms. Marinucci, there would be retaliation against Chronicle and Hearst reporters.  Later they recanted and said that the reporter might not be removed after all.

Please follow one of the links above to watch the protest video.  The protestors were singing, “We paid our dues, where’s our change.”  I suspect there are a lot of people currently feeling that way.