BloggeRhythms

Not much in the news again today, except the fact that the president will deliver another daily speech, this one the State of the Union.

 

As for myself, I’ve never watched any of the president’s speeches, reading the transcripts later instead. That way, I can take my time, get a better understanding of what was said, and not be bored by all the theatrics and drama played out for the camera. Furthermore, while his fans may claim that he’s a spectacular speaker, in the few instances where I’ve actually listened for a couple of moments, he sounded like every other politician to me, so why bother tuning in?

 

However, while thinking about the subject of political rhetoric and public speaking regarding the president, his most recent Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, came to mind. Because, as boring as the president is, Earnest is in a category all by himself, coming across as someone totally unfamiliar with almost every topic the press tries to discuss with him. Which is why, I looked his credentials up on Wikipedia, as follows.

 

“Immediately following college, he worked in the 1997 Houston Mayoral Election for Lee Brown. Earnest served as a congressional aide to U.S. Congressman Marion Berry from 2002-2003 after working on Michael Bloomberg's first mayoral campaign. He then joined Senator Obama's presidential campaign as Obama's Iowa Communications Director. He also later served as Obama's Texas Communications Director during the primaries. He then served as the principal deputy press secretary to Jay Carney, replacing Bill Burton, occasionally filling in during press briefings and hosting West Wing Week, the president's "video diary" of the week.”

 

So, here’s a guy without any serious experience, basically a political flunky performing menial tasks at best, until he reached the White House with no substantial background at all. Which goes far to explain why, when facing a highly professional, seasoned, and often brilliant White House Press Corps, Earnest looks like a deer caught in the headlights while sounding like some kid who didn’t understand yesterday's homework assignment. His responses are all stutters and double-talk. 

 

For comparison, I then looked up Jay Carney, who I didn’t care a whit about either, but knew that he at least was reasonably intelligent as he scrambled around daily trying to justify the president’s latest mistakes to the press.

 

In Carney’s case, also from Wikipedia, “After being hired as a reporter for The Miami Herald in 1987, Carney joined Time magazine as its Miami Bureau Chief in 1989. Carney worked as a correspondent in Time's Moscow Bureau for three years, covering the collapse of the U.S.S.R.. He came to Washington in 1993 to report on the Bill Clinton White House.

 

He has written and reported about the presidency of George W. Bush, and was one of a handful of reporters who were aboard Air Force One with President Bush on September 11, 2001. Carney later won the 2003 Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency.

 

Carney was Time's Washington Bureau Deputy Chief from 2003 to 2005, and Chief from September 2005 until December 2008. He was assigned to the magazine's Washington Bureau in that tenure while also being able to write about politics and national affairs. Carney has also worked for CNN (another TIME Warner division) as a special correspondent.”

 

Now, looking at the president’s performance in office to date, there’s not really very much he’s done well at all. But, at least, he gave himself a chance to save some face with the press corps by having someone with Carney’s knowledge and experience to represent him there. Which makes one wonder why, at this point, would that same president send an unqualified Chihuahua into a cage full of seasoned pit bulls? He either enjoys putting himself in challenging positions simply for the competition, or was out on the golf course the day Valerie Jarrett hired Earnest.  

 

That's it for today folks.

 

Adios