robert gibbs – Moe Lane

Well, at least Nancy Pelosi didn’t claim that the Jews made Robert Gibbs do it.

I hope Nancy Pelosi stays House Minority Leader until the day she dies: “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., brushed off former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs’ prediction that Obamacare’s twice-delayed employer mandate will never take effect by suggesting he is being paid to talk down the law that he touted as it moved through Congress.”

…I mean, don’t get me wrong: I got no particular love or respect for Robert Gibbs. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest to hear that he’s a trained seal for whoever cuts the checks. But I imagine that a Venn diagram would show considerable overlap between Robert Gibbs’ Customers and People Who Give Money to Democrats: I find it odd that Nancy Pelosi apparently wants to make that area smaller. Odd, but highly amusing.

Via… somebody on Twitter, sorry.

Welcome to the new Media paradigm, Mister Gibbs.

It’s one where you get interrupted when you try to spin the stupid things that your candidates say.

For those without video, it shows: George Stephanopoulos (!) playing a clip of Joe Biden’s infamous ‘buried’ gaffe*; asking Robert Gibbs whether gaffes like this will hurt the Vice President in his upcoming debate with Paul Ryan**; and stopping Gibbs cold when Gibbs tried to claim that Biden was talking about the last eight years*** when Biden clearly said four. Pure entertainment, in other words: oh, I’m sure that there were plenty of softballs and whatnot. It’s Stephanopoulos, after all. But perhaps the Media is figuring out that smacking the Democrats around a bit promises to be good for the ratings… Continue reading Welcome to the new Media paradigm, Mister Gibbs.

Gibbs to leave WH press secretary gig…

…in order to pursue an exciting career as left center on Hollywood Squares – actually, is that program even still on? No, just kidding: outgoing White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is going to have some nebulous job defending whatever dumb idea the President comes up with that day, just like before – only now Gibbs will be doing it in places where people can actually interrupt him when he says something particularly egregious. In other words, he’s still going to be a dolt, but one who won’t get the same deference that Gibbs is used to getting, thanks to his (soon-to-be-former) position of trust and authority. Something to look forward to*: in the meantime, here’s all the send-off the fellow needs.

A replacement has yet to be announced: but the front runner is probably Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, who likes to mock crippled war veterans and former POWs. So, really, an appeal to the Democratic activist base there.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

*Also: outside of our somewhat specialized arena, few people know who Gibbs is, and less care. We probably all need to remember that.

#rsrh Please, God, let Gibbs be the next DNC chair.

Ed Morrissey and I will be very grateful if You could let this happen. And it’s certainly true that the Democrats deserve this, after all:

Democratic insiders are taking the temperature of some top party donors about the possibility of naming White House press secretary Robert Gibbs as chairman of the Democratic National Committee heading into President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012, senior officials tell POLITICO.

Under the scenario being tested, Tim Kaine, the current DNC chairman and former governor of Virginia, would be named to a top administration post, perhaps in the Cabinet, the officials said.

Especially the part where Kaine comes in and does to the executive branch what he did to the DNC. Just don’t let them make Kaine Secretary of State: the last thing that we need is Hillary Clinton suddenly free from her entanglement with this administration…

Moe Lane

PS: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Does the White House WANT us to keep talking about Sestak?Does the White House WANT us to keep talking about Sestak?

Is this a cry for help?

Because they keep bringing it to the forefront. Let me set the scene for this: it turns out that the job offer that Bill Clinton had supposedly offered Joe Sestak was in fact a job offer that Sestak could not take and still keep his House seat. This is important, because Sestak being able to keep his House seat is kind of critical for somebody in the White House not being possibly on the hook for a federal felony. But when Robert Gibbs gets asked about this, well, hi-jinks ensue:

“The Intelligence Advisory Board, which most reports said this offer was for, that would be a position a member of the House could not serve on,” a reporter said.

“That’s how I understand the way the PIAB is written,” Gibbs said.

“But the memo, it said that this would be a position to serve in the House and serve on a presidential advisory board.”

“Correct,” Gibbs said.

“Well, how could he sit on the board?”

“He couldn’t,” Gibbs said.

“So that wasn’t the offer, then?”

“I’d refer you to — ”

“What position, what board, was it then? Do you know?”

“I’d refer you to the memo.”

“But the memo didn’t specify.”

“Right,” Gibbs said. “Thank you.”

The tightrope that Gibbs is unsteadily walking on right now is that while the PIAB clearly isn’t the job that was offered, as long as he doesn’t actually say which one was actually offered he doesn’t have to explain away more awkward details. Like, for example, that the only other Presidential board offering (the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, or PERAB) would have also required Sestak to give up his House seat, and that it would have been less relevant to Sestak’s life experiences than the PIAB. Or that there’s a definite contradiction between Sestak’s answer on how many times that Clinton met with him, and the White House’s answer. Little things like that.

Congressional Republicans are continuing to push at this issue: you’d think that the White House would be not doing its best to encourage them. Unless they just don’t like Joe Sestak? He is a swarmy little sort, after all – and it’s all his fault that they’re dealing with this issue in the first place. It would certainly explain why Sestak is going to be on the other side of the state for the President’s Philadelphia visit…

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Gibbs’ contempt for press a marvelous thing.

You cannot command respect from others if you will not demand respect from yourself.

(Via AosHQ) Excuse me while I give a measured, well-thought-out response to this bit of news:

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs approached White House reporters earlier this year in an attempt to end the long-standing practice of sourcing claims to anonymous administration officials, he told CNN on Sunday.

During that meeting with the press corps, Gibbs offered correspondents a no-background policy, in which the White House would only give on-the-record interviews if reporters promised not to cite unnamed sources, he explained to host Howard Kurtz in an interview on “Reliable Sources.”

HAHAHA… (repeat for five minutes, interspersed with multiple pauses for breath, attempts to regain composure, and resumption of laughter) Continue reading Gibbs’ contempt for press a marvelous thing.

Robert Gibbs: ‘Splitting atoms… with his mind.’

Which is undoubtedly how Ace of Spades will describe this, once he sees it:

“The president posted ideas of his on the White House website today. We hope Republicans will post their ideas either on their website, or we’d be happy to post them on ours, so that the American people could come to one location and find out the parameters of what will largely be discussed on Thursday,” [Press Secretary Robert] Gibbs said.

Turns out the House Republicans’ plan has been online since October and already has its own link on the White House website.

(Via @ErickaAndersen) Remember: this guy? Inner circle.

Inner.

Circle.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

Great. Now the WH is stealing her jokes, too. #rsrh

They ain’t laughing with you, Sparky.

Gibbs. Boychik. When she did it, it was funny.

A quick response and a clever counter-taunt to the sexual attacks made on her by your side’s cheer-leading squad. Makes it clear that said attacks will not be taken seriously without a word even being spoken. The Netroots hate not being taken seriously, so that works.

But when you (belatedly) do it?

You just look like a dweeb. One who can’t even write your own material.

No wonder the press room groaned.

Moe Lane

Quote of the Day, Kit Bond edition.

How do we feel about calling Gibbs ‘The Mouth of Obama’ from now on? Does it give him too much style? – because he’s a bit of a nebbish, honestly.

To properly appreciate this one, imagine that Senator Kit Bond (R, MO) said this in a tone that is normally associated with the comparison of the relative volume of a particular individual to the upper range of the speaker’s more memorable individual bowel movements, to the detriment of the former:

“I don’t debate Press Secretaries.”

Story here and here: bs at RedState otherwise covered it nicely here. Mind you, Gibbs wouldn’t be such an arrogant so-and-so if the White House press pool was doing its job properly. In this, in fact, we see the comedy of the Obama administration in miniature: they’re so accustomed to not being challenged that they don’t quite know how to handle it when they are.

And no: they’re not handling it well.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.

The Change that they were waiting for: Gibbs and the WH Press Pool.

[UPDATE] Welcome, Instapundit readers. And Ed Driscoll readers.

Contra Hot Air and Instapundit, this isn’t really funny:

…it’s sad. The White House press pool is being given the mushroom treatment; and they know that they’re being given the mushroom treatment. But they don’t want to respond appropriately – which is to say, stop letting Robert Gibbs define what are or are not appropriate questions to ask. Until that happens – and the press corps internalizes the notion that Gibbs and the administration needs them a hell of a lot more than they need Gibbs and the administration – they’ll keep getting the mushroom treatment.

I’d be sympathetic, except that elections have consequences.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to RedState.