{"id":2767,"date":"2014-01-09T06:20:17","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T11:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=2767"},"modified":"2014-01-09T06:33:55","modified_gmt":"2014-01-09T11:33:55","slug":"press-secretaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=2767","title":{"rendered":"press secretaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jay_Carney_insert_cMichael_Key\"<\/a>Ok, ok… so I\u2019m a bit of a sucker for punishment.\u00a0 For years, I have watched official press conferences directed by the White House Press Secretary.\u00a0 I feel like we learn a lot in these short interactions.\u00a0 I can remember moments even before my teens with Jimmy Carter\u2019s Jody Powell and then onto Reagan\u2019s James Brady.\u00a0 I remember Marlin Fitzwater \u2014 then both Dee Dee Myers and George Stephanopoulos under Clinton.\u00a0 I watched Ari Fleischer under Bush 43 \u2014 and then Tony Snow, my personal favorite.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In recent years, I\u2019ve watched both Dana Perino and Robert Gibbs.\u00a0 And yesterday, I again watched Jay Carney.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I have hence concluded \u2014 based on my totally, notably, understandably incomplete<\/em> perspective \u2014 that there is no more obviously ethically-challenging job in public service than the White House Press Secretary.\u00a0 The secretary\u2019s job, no matter what, is to make the administration look good.\u00a0 And sometimes, that\u2019s seemingly impossible to do.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yesterday, when the former Time-Magazine-reporter-turned-press-secretary stumbled at the podium, attempting to defer criticism from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, I felt Carney\u2019s pain.\u00a0 Here Gates, a man with years of bipartisan respect, affirmed the current administration for some very specific aspects \u2014 such as the initial approach toward Afghanistan and the savviness of Hillary Clinton \u2014 but other aspects scathed and stung… such as political motives behind military moves… Obama\u2019s controlling, micro-management, leadership style… and Joe Biden, a man Gates says, who \u201chas been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ouch.\u00a0 Note that Robert Gates\u2019 perspective may very well not be accurate.\u00a0 Accurate or not, however, such an insider perspective is hard to squelch… hard to make anyone look good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

And so I\u2019d like to take this time to offer a wee bit of amateur advice for the next to stumble to the press\u2019s podium.\u00a0 Really, it\u2019s an impossible job; but ideally, below are the top 10 things that I\u2019d like to hear each press secretary say…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t answer that question.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I can answer the question, but no one in the White House wants me to answer it.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI actually don\u2019t know the answer.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI know the answer, but I don\u2019t know how to make it sound good.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth might make us look bad.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth might be unpopular.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth might be appropriate, but if it\u2019s unpopular, I don\u2019t want to answer.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I know I\u2019m dodging your question.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cMy poll tested answer is…\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

And…<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cCan we be real here?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

With all due respect to Jay Carney, Tony Snow, and all the valiant men and women who have attempted to fill these rhetorical shoes \u2014 which quite notably, the Intramuralist has not \u2014 the White House Press Secretary is a pretty tough job.\u00a0 It can be ethically challenging.\u00a0 It can be awkward indeed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

God bless \u2018em.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Respectfully,<\/p>\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ok, ok… so I\u2019m a bit of a sucker for punishment.\u00a0 For years, I have watched official press conferences directed by the White House Press Secretary.\u00a0 I feel like we learn a lot in these short interactions.\u00a0 I can remember moments even before my teens with Jimmy Carter\u2019s Jody Powell and then onto Reagan\u2019s James … <\/p>\n

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