Posted on 09/06/2014 9:36:26 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Bill O’Reilly came under criticism from the Obama administration this week for stating that Jen Psaki, spokesperson for the State Department, “looks way out of her depth” and that “just the way she delivers, she doesn’t look like she has the gravitas for the job.”
The criticism was delivered by Psaki’s deputy, Marie Harf, who claimed that O’Reilly’s comments are sexist because she doesn’t “actually [doesn't] think [he] would ever use [those words] about a man.” O’Reilly’s actions are “not ok,” Harf lectured.
Harf, who makes Psaki look intellectually hefty, should think again. O’Reilly has used similar words to disparage the new White House press security Josh Earnest, calling him “befuddled” and stating that he “looks uncertain” and “doesn’t look like he has a lot of credibility.”
We are left, then, with a baseless, whiney complaint against O’Reilly, the real thrust of which is that it’s “not ok” to express the opinion that a woman is “out of her depth,” even if that’s what one believes. Since when is policing speech part of the job of an administration flak?
The more interesting question is why Team Obama selects obvious lightweights to hold forth to the press on U.S. foreign policy. There are two answers, I believe.
First, Obama is playing to a core component of his base — the young. Those of us of a certain age may be put off by seeing U.S. foreign policy explained by someone like Harf who looks like she just stepped out of a Student Congress session. But to Obama’s youthful fans, it probably seems very cool. So, perhaps, does Psaki’s widely ridiculed (by old people) hashtag diplomacy.
Team Obama was ridiculed for using “Pajama Boy” to pitch Obamacare; yet it may have gotten the last laugh when enrollment by the “invincibles” picked up. Think of Psaki and Harf as the flak equivalents of Pajama Boy.
It may also be that Psaki and Harf are popular with women, or at least the significant portion of them who apparently buy into “the life of Julia”/war on women narratives.
But there’s a second, and think more fundamental, explanation for the State Department’s use of Psaki and Harf. I believe Team Obama is trying to “demystify” foreign policy — to make it look unthreatening almost to the point of child’s play. Psaki and Harf provide visual expression of this view just by standing at the podium and talking.
If one believes that the world is a dangerous place and that the U.S. must, accordingly, respond with constant vigilance and, at times, forceful engagement, then you want your spokespersons to look and talk maturely and somberly — to project, in a word, “gravitas.” For those of us who see the world that way, James Haggerty (Eisenhower’s press secretary who once said “if you lose your temper at a newspaper columnist, he’ll get rich or famous or both”) is a model.
But suppose you don’t believe the world is all that inherently dangerous. Suppose you believe, as Obama does, that the U.S. is at the root of many of the world’s problems and that a new dawn in international relations is possible if America will just lighten up.
In that case, you will be quite happy with light, breezy young foreign policy spokespersons. And if, like Harf, that spokesperson likes to get snarky with conservative journalist, all the better.
I’ve always thought that politicians and public officials tend to get the staff they deserve. This pet theory seems particularly applicable when it comes to spokespersons, and applicable on stilts to Psaki and Harf.
JOHN adds: Yes, and let’s not forget Tommy Vietor, a van driver for the Obama campaign who became a foreign policy spokesman for the Obama administration and famously said, in answer to a question about Benghazi, “Dude, this was like two years ago.” Barack Obama proceeds, always, on the assumption that voters are idiots. I think his choice of spokesmen is just one facet of that cynical perspective, which so far has proved sadly accurate.
Psaki and Harf give airheads a bad name.
When watching Obama’s spokesmen...spokespeople, I’m reminded of a Zucker Brother’s movie with a scene showing a little boy and girl dressed, looking and talking like adults. The boy pours coffee for the girl and offers cream and sugar. Sipping, she says, “I like my coffee like my men, strong and black.”
“The Strategic Corporal: Leadership in the Three Block War”
Marines Magazine, January 1999
by Gen. Charles C. Krulak
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/usmc/strategic_corporal.htm
When I see either of them, I can only think that I’m watching a SNL spoof. They are caricatures of themselves. And what’s with their hair? Who does that?
He’s pathetic also!!! They are ALL stupid children because that is their constituency!!
Harf’s defense of Psaki was embarrassing and unprofessional. Wasting the time of the press to publicly display “hurt” feelings over a matter as minor as this, shows they both have incredibly thin skin and do not understand their role in the big picture.
Harf used official time to create a story about herself and Psaki instead of using it the way it is intended, to discuss bigger much more important foreign policy issues.
To sum up the whole performance in one word......pathetic.
The State Department sorority sisters, Psaki and especially Harf are total airheads and were already out of their depth planning rush week at their sorority.
Over the past year I've spent more time observing the people around me while I'm waiting in line at various stores and agencies. Here are some broad brush observations:
Time of day matters. Most people who are out and about at 7:00 AM have their act together. The IQ of the clientele drops as the day wears on.
The venue matters. The industrious people who frequent our local farm supply store are quite different from the late afternoon Walmart crowd.
After spending some time in line in medical facilities it is clear that the idiots use lots of medical resources and waste the time of medical administrators.
Everyone in America should be required to spend a day in the lobby of a Social Security office. It is enlightening to see in person the people who consume our hard earned tax dollars.
Harf-Psaki...half-sacky? Together they have the gravitas of a half a sack of what?
:’) Thanks!
LOL!!
HARF HARF HARF
Harf reminds me of an obnoxious know it all tattle tale in elementary school.
Hipster flak Harf.
If you criticise and incompetent black leftist, you are called a racist and probably a homophobe. If you criticise a female leftist, you are a sexist and probably a homophobe. If you criticise a black female leftest you are a sexist racist and probably a homophobe.
The left uses this to divert attention from the hard left divisional tactics that they derive their power from. There power is based on hatred and division and strife.
Hope?
Is this a subtle move away from 'appearances' and toward 'substance'? Yes, it's really OK to say a woman, a black, an Hispanic, or a white liberal elite like John Kerry are 'out of their depth'...
There's hope.
“Time of day matters. “
Good observations.
I’ve noticed a distinct change in convenience store clientele between 5:00 am and 8:00 AM. The Orcs and Dwarves appear at 5 and are displaced by Hobbits and Elves about 7:30.
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