In Front of Our Noses: Contempt for the Press
Also contempt for citizens.
The following is what is becoming standard operating procedure for high-ranking Trump officials, whether it is when dealing with the press or in congressional hearings: beligeretn deflection and non-answers.
One can see similar behavior from the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
(Spoiler: contra the Tweet, RFK did not DEMOLISH anyone, but the point is the clip, not the Tweet.)
Part of all of this is just what incompetent people do when cornered. But I would submit that it is also more than just demonstrating rudeness, if not contempt, for those asking the questions; it is contempt for all of us. The press exists to inform the public; congressional hearings exist to inform the public.
I understand that not all journalist’s questions are perfect and that members of Congress are often trying to score points. Further, the occasional deflection or fit of pique by public servants is par for the course. But the reality is, this administration practices this kind of behavior constantly.
When the FBI Director and cabinet officials have no respect for the public they serve, they see no reason to give an account for their behavior. They don’t have to answer to us, you see. They just have to make sure the boss is happy and that they get to enjoy their sinecures as long as they can. It is behavior that is antithetical to notions of democratic governance and cleaves to a combination of kleptocracy and personalistic oligarchy.
Back to Patel: the notion that polling the audience is a way to answer a reporter’s question is childish. Worse, he denies facts that are in the lawsuit he filed.
If you want to be further enraged and depressed about the state of the FBI, listen to Tuesday’s episode of The Daily.
I read through the SLPC indictment and it’s so against common sense. As in, we the public apparently do not grasp the concept of ‘informant’; therefore we are supposed to be outraged the SLPC was both paying a guy in some nazi party while calling him an extremist on their website. Rather than, I guess, having a secret informants section on their site for the public to scroll through.
It’s like salt-of-the-earth dumbness without salt-of-the-earth intuition. How do you end up with that?
@Modulo Myself:
It’s malicious persecution of those opposed to the MAGAt agenda.
@Kathy:
I don’t think it’s going to go very far. The indictment is ludicrous and talks about the SLPC as if it were trying to conceal these accounts. And then it shows direct evidence of the SLPC paying these accounts directly, as if that’s a gotcha. No, they just weren’t trying to conceal the accounts or launder money, because why would they be doing that? Kash and co probably promised Trump they would vindicate him on his nonsensical version of reality re: the Unite the Right march, and they dug through the archives and came up with this.
Contempt for the Press
Takes me back to 1970 and Spiro Agnew’s memorable quote:
“In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. They have formed their own 4-H Club — the ‘hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.’”
Apparently penned by speechwriter William Safire. I always took it as Spiro slamming the press.
Here is another opinion:
The Myth of Spiro Agnew’s “Nattering Nabobs of Negativism”
I have linked to an abstract of the article. Can’t afford the $56 for the entire item.
It would be delicious if this press conference ends up an exhibit in the lawsuit.
Patel is such a tool. I know the type. Seen them in the corporate world. Total bullshitter but alpha confidence in presenting themselves as in the know. Usually get aggressive when you start sniffing out their BS, but are close to the boss (who enjoys their BS and praising of the boss decisions etc…) so you try and deal with them by avoiding them entirely, like Patel’s staff for sure is doing. Also crave to be seen as cool when everyone thinks they are a douche, so they latch on to events etc…and try harder. Its a painful persona to deal with.
I suspect a lot of career agents are silently determined to get rid of J Edgar Boozer, and he’s not long in that job. The firing of agents who did their assigned jobs in the Trump investigation? The surviving agents are chilled to the bone that that could happen to any of them, and Kash is not anywhere close to being capable of covering his own ass against those guys and gals.
Knowing how to find people who do not want to be found is a master class in how not to be found. They can strike with near impunity if they select their press leakage pathways carefully. Trump would be wise to fire Patel before it gets out of hand.