Off-setting Penalties in DC

I had one of those moments the other morning where I was running along on the treadmill and wanted really badly to scold both sides on a particular issue being discussed on the news (ask my wife, this happens more than you might think, I should probably watch more SportsCenter and less national news while at the gym).

Following President Obama re-taking the oath of office there was a round of complaints from the White House press corps about the fact that they weren't allowed to witness this event. This came the night after all the flowery speeches about the new administration being much more open than the previous one in giving access and information to the press. The press was crying foul - "business as usual" 15 yards, loss of down.

Shame on both sides. Here's why:

The Press - You have no inherent right to cover everything that happens. To my knowledge, the Constitution protects the press from being influenced in their reporting by the government, but does not say they shall have the right to see and know all that goes on. If the President or any other official decides not to invite you in for something you need to get over yourselves, it is not your right to be there (and if someone can point me to the law that says it is I'd appreciate it, I'm not a lawyer or a Constitutional expert, I'm just not aware of anything that says the press shall be allowed to cover everything in the way they want to). My wife says I'm wrong about this, but hasn't yet shown me yet why.

The Obama Administration - Look, you've got mad high approval ratings, but the quickest way (well, at least in the top 3) to destroy them is to say you're going to do something and then not do it. I don't think 70% of the country actually cares whether you are more open than the preceding administration (or as you've said you'll be, more open than any in history), it's really just the press that cares and well, who cares about them. BUT (and it's a big but) don't charge to Washington talking about change, spell out the ways you're going to change things and then backtrack on it within hours of arriving.