Saturday, January 02, 2010

Truth in Blogging

Last week's White House Blog post by Dan Pfeiffer was notable for the brutal unvarnished honesty of its title:
The Same Old Washington Blame Game
Posted by Dan Pfeiffer on December 30, 2009 at 03:34 PM EST
I am just not accustomed to this kind of refreshing candor coming from a Communication Director for this or, for that matter, any administration. After all, the job of a Communication Director is "spin" - to frame everything in the most positive light for the President and the administration. But there it is... Pfeiffer delivers on the promise of the title "The Same Old Washington Blame Game" with much more of the same old Washington blame game in the body of the post.

In the first paragraph, Pfeiffer writes "too many are engaged in the typical Washington game of pointing fingers and making political hay...". In the rest of the post he points fingers and makes political hay:
"..for seven years after 9/11, while our national security was overwhelmingly focused on Iraq – a country that had no al Qaeda presence before our invasion – Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda's leadership was able to set up camp in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where they continued to plot attacks against the United States."

"Seven years of bellicose rhetoric failed to reduce the threat from al Qaeda and succeeded in dividing this country."

"The difference is this: President Obama doesn’t need to beat his chest to prove it, and – unlike the last Administration – we are not at war with a tactic (“terrorism”), we at war with something that is tangible..."
Kudos to Dan Pfeiffer. No telling where this kind of honesty might lead. If Congress followed his example and gave honest titles to its legislative efforts, the stimulus bill might have been named: "Bring Home the Bacon to Democratic Districts Porkfest"; the Cash for Clunkers program would be titled "We Will Borrow Money From China To Be Repaid by Your Children And Give It To You So You Can Buy a Car Now Act"; and the health care reform bill that recently passed the Senate would be known as "A Giant Legislative Hairball That No One Understands Except the Big Pharma and Health Care Insurance Lobbyists that Wrote It" bill.

I can only hope this trend will continue. Perhaps other political bloggers will be inspired to be more candid about their blog posts. Perhaps even DWSUWF should follow Dan's lead and replace this post title with "A Smarmy, Cynical, Sarcastic And Unfunny Take On The White House Blog".

Hat Tip - Kate at Small Dead Animals

Divided and Balanced.™
Now that is fair.

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