Last Friday, Jay Carney, President Obama's second press secretary, resigned. Mr. Carney's resignation came the same day that the Secretary of Veteran's Affairs, Eric Shinseki, resigned, which could be nothing more than a comic coincidence. Still, it's a good thing that Mr. Carney resigned, both for himself and for the country.
Never having been to Washington, D.C., and never having been to the White House, much less having served in a president's administration, I have no idea what it takes to be a press secretary. I can only go by what Mr. Carney's predecessors have said about the job. It may have its rewards, but it appears to be thankless job that takes its toll on the person in ways the rest of us can only imagine. The stress, the hours, the tasks he or she must perform must go beyond anything any of us can appreciate. It's a job with great responsibility, immense pressure and long hours.
Even so, Mr. Carney's performance was the first time I'd ever really paid attention to a press secretary, and the reasons for that attention are not good. First, Mr. Carney was nothing if not smug. He was always the smartest person in the room. The way he talked to correspondents, especially those with whom he disagreed, was downright rude. He often groped for words that he knew conveyed a meaning that was opaque at best. He parsed his own replies so carefully that he basically said nothing in response to the question.
And part of that is by design. He was paid to represent and protect the President. I get that. But did he have to be so rude?
Mr. Carney also lied, or was complicit in lying. The position the White House took on the Benghazi consulate attacks was for media consumption, and as the point person for the adminstration, Mr. Carney necessarily had to be involved in the formation and the delivery of the message. To claim ignorance of the perversion of the talking points is an outright lie.
Even though he's leaving his position, Mr. Carney continues to twist words to fit an agenda. With the controversial deal brokered by the administration with the Taliban to exchange five hardened terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl, Mr. Carney is attempting to rebut charges that the White House negotiated with terrorists by claiming that Mr. Bergdahl wasn't a hostage but a prisoner of war, captured by the enemy on the battlefield. Reports are issuing that Mr. Bergdahl deserted and was taken by the Taliban, not captured in battle, putting a lie to the new spin being furthered by Susan Rice and Mr. Carney. Apparently, even with one foot out the door, Mr. Carney is intent on salvaging Mr. Obama's reputation.
I'm curious to see whether Mr. Carney will write a memoir wherein he'll refute much of what he said and did or at least try to shift blame away from himself or try to justify it as being the truth. The problem is that Mr. Carney is engaged in cognitive dissonance of the first order, telling people one thing that is diametrically opposed to what reality exists. Combined with his smug demeanor, his lack of hesitation to lie and his endless parsing of his own words, it makes Mr. Carney one of, if not the most, insufferably press secretaries to ever hold the position.
Americans deserve better. We're entitled to the transparency promised us when Mr. Obama was first elected. Mr. Carney has aided and abetted this administration to paint black the windows of his government so that no one can see inside and only what is allowed out through an open door is what we receive. Mr. Carney may not have committed any crimes, but he is complicit in treating his fellow Americans like serfs.
It is my hope that historians will one day provide the transparent balance to what this administration labored so hard to conceal. Mr. Carney may suffer very badly at their hands, but he is responsible for perpetrating the concealment.
(c) 2014 The Truxton Spangler Chronicles
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