An Appropriate Assessment of the Spicer Era
Don't cry for Spicer.
Jack Shafer’s column in Politico Magazine asks: Should You Feel Sorry for Sean Spicer?
The sub-title correctly answers: Nope. Absolutely not.
The White House attracts all manner of toadies, suckups and flatterers seeking the president’s favor, but never did any staffer demean, degrade and humble himself to the chief executive the way outgoing press secretary Sean Spicer did. Abandoning the arts of both persuasion and elision that have served previous prevaricating press secretaries so well, Spicer flung barb-tongued lies in the service of President Donald Trump.
Being Press Secretary is a hard job. Invariably you have to go out in front of the press and try to answer questions without always actually answering them. There are often good reasons to behave in such a manner, as it is undesirable, for example, to talk about ongoing foreign policy actions. And, quite frankly, negotiations and determinations about domestic policy can be ever-changing in a way that makes direct answers impossible or problematic.
I have watched Press Secretaries for decades knowing full well that they were often not being candid about all things (and, often, perhaps not even knowing the answers being sought). I have seen them dissemble about presidential actions. I have certainly heard responses that I was pretty sure weren’t true (often by omission, dissembling, or word games). What I do not recall is the volume of believe, not your lying eyes type of behavior we saw from Spencer. Understand, that is ultimately the President’s fault, and it will not get better with Spicer’s exit. But Spicer, as a person, has to own what Shafer said in the paragraph quoted above–he sold his soul for that job.
Spicer wasn’t born a liar. In an oddly predictive utterance, he volunteered in January as he boarded the Trump White House that he never liedbecause, among other things, lying destroyed credibility and rendered a spokesman useless. If he was being honest about not being a liar, his streak ended with that first press briefing, in which he took no questions and made his ridiculous claims about the inauguration crowd size.
The entire column is a list of the problematic statements and defense provided by Spicer to the press.
Of course, as noted above, this it ultimately about the President and it is likely to get worse because this White House does not respect the role of the press in our system.
On that last note, I know that many believe that the press is the “opposition” and that it is so rife with “liberal bias” that it can be seen as the “enemy,” but this is a dangerous position to the very fabric of our governing system and to free civil society. There is plenty of room for criticism of the press, and certainly of specific stories, reporters, and outlets. But to denigrate the ability of the press to question the executive branch is a serious problem and is an authoritarian move, not a democratic one.
If one wants to criticize some member of the press, then bring the facts, don’t make up alternative ones because that makes you feel better. Ultimately this is about reality v. fantasy.
I think it is absolutely clear that Trump corrupts and degrades anyone who comes in contact with him. Spicer is just one person. You’re seeing the corruption in the evangelical right, in the Republican political class, even the legitimate conservative press. Quite frankly, this is not going to end well.
My problem is that Spicer should at least have waited for the Season Premire of Saturday Night Live.
He is just one more Republican who squandered his credibility in a vain attempt to curry favor with King Donald.
I think I might miss him. He at least had enough decency to often look uncomfortable as he lied. Huckabee seems very comfortable saying anything to help Trump.
Steve
Why are we still talking about this guy?
@Scott:
I’m not sure if Trump corrupted fundamentalist Protestants so much as his presence on the national stage exposed their pre-existing corruption and hypocrisy.
@James Pearce:
He’s not leaving–or at least, that’s what he said yesterday–until the end of August. So he’s still a factor.
@James Pearce: Because he is emblematic of a broader problem.
He made his deal with the devil. Now he gets to enjoy the consequences.
My biggest question at this point is who SNL is going to find to skewer Huckleberry – because you know they will
@CSK:
Spicer has been more of an embarrassment than a factor.
@Steven L. Taylor:
Which one?
My thing about Spicer is that he was literally a PR guy. His job was to stand up there and spin, spin, spin. It was ridiculous to watch him do it, but considering who he was spinning for –a dude who insists his wig is really his hair– it wasn’t that ridiculous.
SNL was funny, but I’m sorry, I’m not popping the popcorn. The Trump administration is not entertaining. Sean Spicer is not comedy. This is deadly serious business and focusing on the PR guy seems, well, superficial.
Which, to me, is emblematic of a larger problem, too.
@James Pearce:
The fact that he’s an embarrassment makes him a factor. He was–and still is–the front man for a disaster.
Just as an aside, Trump is raving like a maniac on Twitter about Crooked Hillary and her 33,000 deleted emails.
@James Pearce:
Have you been on an extended holiday off world since November?
@CSK:
Disaster, I’ll grant….but front man? More like a pawn, wouldn’t you say?
@Steven L. Taylor:
I wish….
But in an administration rife with problems, it would be useful to know which one is illustrated by the Spicer story. Big picture, the guy seems like a footnote to a footnote.
@James Pearce:
He’s the front man because he is, or was, the official spokesperson for the administration. And it’s possible to be a pawn and a front man simultaneously.
@CSK:
That role seems to have been replaced by Trump’s Twitter feed…
But even then, the “official spokesperson” of any organization is going to be a powerless hireling by definition. Are we confusing his front-facing position for an important position?
@CSK: In the circles in which I have traveled, there is a lot of talk about “conquering the nation for Jesus.” I guess if you can’t conquer it for Jesus, conquering it for yourselves is a close second. (I wouldn’t think that would be correct, but I can’t grok it anymore.)
@CSK: “Oh, Paulie, uh, Sean-Boy, won’t see him no more.”
@James Pearce:
I’m not confusing anything with anything. Spicer was the White House press secretary for six months. As with all presidential press secretaries, he was/is the official conduit from the Oval Office to the press to the public. If you choose to regard that as an inconsequential or insignificant role, be my guest. The vast majority of people seem to feel otherwise.
@HarvardLaw92:
The beauty of it is that they can still use Melissa McCarthy!
I read this somewhere: Every time now someone quits the Trump team, I expect to see a group of Oompa Loompas come out and sing a song about the evils of greed and narcissism.
@James Pearce: If you’re tired of it, why are you here?
@James Pearce:
He blatantly lies… and 47% of the American electorate either accepts them at face value, or makes excuses for them. Is it clear now?
@Just ‘nutha ig’nint cracker:
If you’ve convinced yourself that you’re doing it for Jesus, you can convince yourself of anything.
@Mr. Prosser:
Bannon probably took the cannoli.
@James Pearce:
That is certainly the Trump administration’s position, yes.
Personally, I feel that ridicule and contempt are more effective, and more productive in the long run, than actually pretending that this is a real administration that should be treated seriously. Trump brushes off criticism; he is incapacitated by mockery.
@CSK:
I didn’t choose to make the press secretary an inconsequential or insignificant role. Donald Trump did.
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yeah, that’s pretty sad. But Spicer was on the job for less than a year.
@DrDaveT:
I don’t think so. I think the mockery is his motivation. It fuels him. I think he sat there, taking shit at the correspondent’s dinner, the Meatloaf and Gary Busey jokes, and he went, “Oh yeah, well F you.” And look at him now.
I mean, I’m not saying don’t make fun of him. He is a ridiculous figure. But he’s also president of the United States now, not just some TV clown.
@James Pearce: He is emblematic of this administration’s lack of fidelity with the truth. He was a willing participant on this administration’s assault on the free press. He is also a clear example of this president’s corrupting influence on the GOP and the executive branch.
Those are three good reasons why this is more than a “meh” story.
@HarvardLaw92: I’m presuming that it will be the same actress they used in the “my mother was a southern hamburger” skit.
@Steven L. Taylor:
Sure, those are great reasons, but here’s one for the “mehs:” What about the next guy? He’s going to be any different? The names change, but the game stays the same.
OT, but this from Kaiser Health News:
Read Here:
Returning to Mr Spicer’s plight but without appropriate seriousness he always seemed to me to be the 21st century evolution of what Tom Wolfe called “Mau-Mau-ing the Flak Catchers”. The picture you should take away is that in the ’60s the corporate PR guy was catching hell from the attendees at press conferences and stock-holder events because Black Panthers and Radical Hippies had learned to infiltrate those gatherings.
In this era the lion eating the back-end of the PR guy is the boss in the Oval Office
Just when you think it couldn’t get any worse (just kidding), up walks Scaramucci who says, “Hold my beer a minute.”
@OzarkHillbilly:
That description could be made of any press secretary to any president in my lifetime. No, it isn’t really clear why some of us continue to focus on a man and a position that are fundamentally irrelevant.
Give me a break. Trump didn’t corrupt Spicer.
He’s been a lying scumbag for decades and done quite well with it.
@James Pearce:
And it’s not going to change with SHS.
@Ben Wolf:
No, it doesn’t.
@CSK: “I’m not sure if Trump corrupted fundamentalist Protestants so much as his presence on the national stage exposed their pre-existing corruption and hypocrisy.”
Seconded. IMHO, what’s happening is that there’s less of a check on people’s extremes. The people joining Trump are corrupt motherf*ckers from the start.
@James Pearce: “Sure, those are great reasons, but here’s one for the “mehs:” What about the next guy? He’s going to be any different? The names change, but the game stays the same.”
I don’t know about where you are, but here it’s great weather. Please take a walk.
@Davebo: @Barry: My point about corruption isn’t the notion of the angels becoming devils as much as the notion of an influence making things even worse.
And look: Spicer let himself be debased–from day one. So it is not that I am saying he had not agency, he did.
And if we really want an answer to why we are talking about him, it is because this is fundamentally a news reaction blog and his quitting was fairly big news this week. And, as a long-time blogger I will note that it is always amusing to a degree that people will comment on a story to ask why the story is being discussed, but people only do that if they at least have an opinion on the story (which is what drove the blog post in the first place).
I would note that I know when people really don’t care about a story because no one comments.
He seems like a nice person.
@Tyrell: Sure, if you like pathological liars.
@Davebo: