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Eminentoes
Gibbsy Steps in It
The president’s spokesman doesn’t respect the Gray Lady.
If you are the press secretary to the President of the United States, the main thing to avoid is becoming the story yourself. You are a “spokesman.” A mouthpiece. And as such, it’s best to keep your size elevens out of your mouth.
Press Secretary Robert Gibbs — immortalized as “Gibbsy” on the Teleprompter of the U.S. blog — has stepped in it big time. He dismissed President Obama’s interview, soon to be published in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. “Not that many people read the New York Times Magazine,” Gibbs said in an off-handed way.
What? I’m reminded of baseball manager Casey Stengel’s plaintive cry as he looked down the bench in the New York Mets’ dugout: “Doesn’t anybody here know how to play this game?” How in the world can the spokesman for a liberal administration so diss the New York Times?
Now, in fairness, we conservatives don’t genuflect when someone invokes the Gray Lady as the ultimate authority in all matters temporal and spiritual. It has been a long time since the Times was considered the indispensable source, the newspaper of record for the United States. We know that the bias of the Times is impervious to facts.
We remember the jokes about how Fidel Castro said “I got my job through the New York Times.” We also remember the not-so-funny fact that the Times’ Man-in-Moscow, Walter Duranty, managed to overlook the deaths of five million Ukrainians as a direct result of Stalin’s enforced famine in the 1930s. Duranty still holds his Pulitzer Prize for history’s most heinous cover-up.
But for Robert Gibbs, speaking in the White House for the most liberal administration since the days of FDR to casually give the back of his hand to the Times’ readership is unbelievably unprofessional.
John F. Kennedy had his own problems with the press. Privately, he threw an issue of the old New York Herald Tribune across the Oval Office in disgust. That paper was considered the voice of the Republican Establishment in those days.
On the campaign stump, however, Kennedy was careful in how he talked about the press. He even tweaked his 1960 opponent, Vice President Richard Nixon, when the very influential Wall Street Journal criticized the economic arguments of the GOP nominee. “That’s like L’Osservotore Romano criticizing the Pope,” Kennedy merrily jabbed.
In that year Kennedy’s Catholic faith was a major issue in the presidential campaign. For Kennedy to cheekily needle Nixon was typical of his special wit and style. But when he poked a little bit of fun at the Vatican’s semi-official newspaper — a house organ that would never criticize a Pope — he disarmed many of his own critics. It’s a major reason why Kennedy overcame biases and won that hotly contested election.
Now, fifty years after JFK, we have the White House minimizing the importance of the New York Times’ readership. It’s as if the Pope were to criticize L’Osservatore Romano!
Just a note to the Press Secretary: The Times readership is surely not what it once was, but it remains the go-to source for tens of thousands of the aging lords of liberalism. These are the people you need if you have any hope of avoiding an “avalanche” next month. These people are the wealthiest and most powerful people in your own base.
The President can give all the interviews he wants to Rolling Stone and other drug-friendly outlets. But if he wants people to open their checkbooks instead of their rolling papers, you’d better not knock your hometown newspaper.
It’s certainly been interesting the past few weeks to see key members of the President’s economic and national security teams go over the side. I have some friendly advice for Press Secretary Robert Gibbs: Freshen up your résumé. Leave out the puff profile on yourself from the December, 2008, New York Times, and make a quick exit for the Democratic National Committee. Your gaffes will never be noticed there.
About the Author
Ken Blackwell, the former mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio is Vice Chairman of the Republican National Committee’s Platform Committee. He also serves on the boards of the Club For Growth and the National Taxpayers Union.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (27) | Leave a comment
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bobu| 10.18.10 @ 8:15AM
The "Gray Lady" has been in senility for many years. No reporting, just uninformed opinion.
Harry the Horrible| 10.18.10 @ 9:33AM
Actually, I think "Dementia" would a more appropriate description of the Old Gray Whore.
Fast Johnny| 10.18.10 @ 8:24AM
The New York Times:
"Only the news that fits is printed"
Bill Young| 10.18.10 @ 8:48AM
Do people still read news papers. They seem to have lost all creditability. Other than the WSJ I would not spend a dime on one. I find internet sites like this one to be a much better source.
Anthony| 10.18.10 @ 9:09AM
Why would Gibbs treat the NY Times with distain do you ask? Simple.
Whores get very little respect from their johns. Despite faithful service to the "cause", in the end, even fellow lefties know a whore when they see one and treat them as such.
P.S. Has Maureen Dowd finally gone over the edge, or what??? This woman is CERTIFIABLE.
Akaky| 10.18.10 @ 12:09PM
Anthony, your comment about johns is exactly what I thought when I read the headline here. You can treat the gray lady like a skank when you know she has nowhere else to go.
1FreeMan| 10.18.10 @ 9:52AM
The writers and editors of the "Old Grey Hag" have turned that paper into a joke.
Like K-Mart of the newspaper world it has been reduced to trash. The entire paper is one big liberal editorial devoid of fact; pandering to special interests, damn the real news. It is increasingly rare to see anyone reference the NYT as everyone knows that paper has no credibility.
You could line your bird cage with it but, if the bird can read, it might hang it's self in the middle of the night.
As we have discussed in these web-pages before: The "Grey Lady" needs to be put to rest.
Rich D| 10.18.10 @ 1:53PM
I tried that once, and my birds died of constipation.
Sam Vaughn| 10.18.10 @ 12:05PM
Speaking of "gray" ladies and insulated arrogance. On the flight from NYC to ATL last night I noticed a strong accent across the aisle from me in 1st class. It was Arianna Huffington. I was tempted to ask her "her story" . In typical self-importance she the flight attendants tried to politely single her out to quit talking in her cell phone so they could back away from the gate. After second PA warning they had no choice, but as the engines revved she finally relented. Clearly heard by those in first class was her conversation about getting their messaging correct and working with Obama to fix things. Call me crazy, but having to "get your messaging correct" at this point is either incompetence or more correctly "how do we spin what we're selling because our "dog can't hunt" ( a nod to my friends in east tennessee.
Margie| 10.18.10 @ 1:04PM
Maybe she meant their instant messaging (IMing). Obama & gang HAVE no real message to the We the People of these 50 United States. Or is it 57? Oh I don't know I'll have to ask the President, he's so smart Oh wait, he wasn't born here what's he doing being President? Oh well.
And actually his "message" has been heard. One of Socializing our blessed by God country. Yep we heard it alright, and we aren't interested.
Message received and rejected.
10-4 dude.
"Return to Sender, address Unknown, no such number, no such zone."
Buh bye.
John II| 10.20.10 @ 10:47AM
57 states. I'm still fascinated by that particular display of the Professor's ignorance. There are exactly 57 Muslim nations in the world--what was on his mind?
Did I say "mind"?
RacerJim| 10.18.10 @ 12:09PM
Gibb's dissing the NYT is just the latest example of Obama et al Obamabots throwing their once staunchest supporters under the bus at the first sign of their disenchantment with Obama.
wmm| 10.18.10 @ 12:46PM
Gibbsy's doing a heckuva job. I don't want him going anywhere!
Gran Torino| 10.18.10 @ 3:27PM
"Gibbsy"is a smug bastard and you're an idiot for liking him. He does have a pretty tough job, though. How the hell do you make this president look good? Impossible. Not for a million dollars...
1FreeMan| 10.18.10 @ 4:53PM
Gran Torino,
I think wmm's post was sarcasm: Meaning Gibbsy is mucking up so much that he is actually helping expose the arrogance, stupidity etc... I mean, does anybody with competence REALLY do business like this? Hand that feeds you meet teeth, teeth meet boot, boot meet hammer.... You get my point.
Sarbo| 10.18.10 @ 1:50PM
Lest it be forgotten, let me remind TAS readers that NYT got the first scoop on the Watergate story and, beyond a perfunctory first article, they dropped the story. It took a Woodward's bull-headedness that finally brought Nixon down.
What is the NYT in the end? A business, that is all.
Seadog| 10.18.10 @ 3:17PM
The NYT is a spent force, headed for the boneyard of history.
John II| 10.20.10 @ 10:42AM
How about this instead: The NYT is a flabby old sick elephant, limping to the boneyard of history.
This is no time to mix metaphors, when we've got the bastards down.
Tim*| 10.18.10 @ 6:30PM
The Liberal Mainstream Media Agendists are out in force attempting to hold back The Voter Tsunami that is coming on November 2nd.
Unemployment ,The Economy & The Health Scam are gonna crash The Democrat Controlled Congress .
The Tea Party Rebellion Escalates.
Rise Up In Rebellion.
Dave Williams| 10.18.10 @ 7:42PM
All that you've said about the Times is true....but they do have one heck of a Sunday crossword puzzle!
Don Carlson| 10.18.10 @ 11:10PM
I started to comment that NYT doesn't have comics to go with its crossword, but then I thought---maybe they do.
Tim*| 10.18.10 @ 9:30PM
Five Letters Down, Beginnin' With " O " , Meaning Economic Buffoon.
heir2freedom | 10.18.10 @ 10:15PM
The issue isn't with the Times as I see it. The issue is Obama et al lashing out in every direction as their sinking ship continues to take on insurmountable water.
Remember "the professional left" jab by Gibbs not so long ago?
When the boilers begin to blow in the engine room, the deck rats begin to flee and even the crew is looking more and more mutinous, you know your administration is in a heap o' trouble.
NEW POST:
CONFIRMED: COLUMNIST EUGENE ROBINSON HATES WHITE CONSERVATIVES
http://heir2freedom.blogspot.c.....inson.html
Sowell Disciple| 10.20.10 @ 10:51AM
Gibbs' comment that not that many people read NYT Magazine is an attempted distraction from the content of Obama's comments. Gibbs' statement is also pathetic in that Obama's shovel-ready quote was all over the internet well before that issue of the NYT hit the newsracks. So it wouldn't have mattered if nobody read that issue of the magazine. The frustration of this third rate loser (Gibbs, that is) is so apparent.