Sean Spicer, Multi-Tasker
It is no secret that the White House press secretary has a tough job. The current secretary, Sean Spicer, is faced with a daunting task.
It is not the task of defending the virtually unassailable policies of a mistake-free administration well into its second full month. The master machinations of the President himself and his well-greased staff make what could be an otherwise difficult task relatively pain-free. It is not the task of communicating the White House's message, ensuring that the general public understands the obstacles, needs, and concerns of the presidency. Again, Mr. Trump has that task competently phone-in-hand. It is not even the task of handling a vociferous and weak press out for blood. No, Mr. Spicer knows how to graciously and shrewdly deal with endless pointed and unanswerable questions in a manner that would possibly give even the great bully in the pulpit pause.
The reason Mr. Spicer's work is so demanding is because he is actually performing two jobs. Because the media, with a few right-minded exceptions, has abdicated their duty to report positively on the Trump Administration, Mr. Spicer must perform not only his role as the voice of the White House, the press secretary, but he must play the part of the press as well.
Stating, "you don't wanna cover this stuff," in his March 17 conference, Mr. Spicer was forced to read ad nauseam other reports and articles to the media that the media had failed to cover. Departing from the typical question and answer format so beloved by the White House Press Corps, Mr. Spicer entered kindly professor mode -- in an over 1,500 word monologue, he castigated the press for not covering Mr. Obama's latest wire-tapping scandal, citing numerous news articles in support, including such luminaries as the New York Times, BBC, and Heat Street.
The problem, as Mr. Spicer highlighted, is that "the President's been very clear when he talks about this." And the direct supporting evidence that Mr. Spicer and Mr. Trump have heard about provide a strong basis for these allegations. Fortunately, as Mr. Spicer clarified in this news conference, the President "stands by" his allegations, as reported by the Washington Post. However, this statement may not be reported, either.
Since the media does not understand what it needs to write, Mr. Spicer has generously absorbed that task. It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
