McClellan Replacement Wish

Pajamas Media has extensive links on the likely-forced resignation of White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. As many have noted, this is probably a wise move, as Mr. McClellan has seemed rather hapless against an increasingly hostile Washington press corps. Nothing against him; as Tammy Bruce opines, he seems like a nice man. Perhaps that’s the problem: he seems just a little bit too nice to smile disarmingly and politely smack down a cheeky questioner as his predecessor Ari Fleischer often did and as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld—who is handling the calls for his own head well—still does without regret.

In other words, McClellan was never quite intimidating enough to handle the position.

The rumor mill has put forth FoxNews anchor (and Bush the Elder staff member) Tony Snow and former Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke as candidates for Mr. McClellan’s replacement. Both are excellent choices, but I have someone else in mind and therein lies a story.

Most of the Republican/conservative bloggers/commenters have tried to be kind to Scott McClellan as he rides into the sunset. Democrat/liberal commentators have been, predictably, less charitable, however, one commentator stands out in his viciousness toward Mr. McClellan: Michael Wolff.

McClellan himself, as though having some terrible social disability, has, standing miserably in the press briefing room every day, become a kick-me archetype. He's Piggy in Lord of the Flies: a living victim, whose reason for being is, apparently, to shoulder public ridicule and pain (or, come to think of it, he's Squealer from Animal Farm). He's the person nobody would ever choose to be.

His daily march into hostile territo-ry, without any of the available diver-sions and protections that a basic presentation-software package [Microsoft Power Point] might provide, is so fraught that it must be a cunning setup—diabolical Karl Rove at it again. If not, it's a remarkable, defining lack of self-awareness on the part of the heretofore all-controlling Bush administration.

The peculiar use of hyphens belongs to Mr. Wolff. His oh-so-charming commentary on McClellan got me to thinking about the last time the existence of the former came to my attention--2003, not long after the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Wolff was in Iraq as a participant in a press conference conducted by the CENTCOM spokesman. In the wake of what seemed to be a Q and A session which revealed ‘unexciting’ news, Wolff asked the spokesman the following:

I mean no disrespect by this question, but I want to ask about the value proposition of these briefings. We're no longer being briefed by senior-most officers. To the extent that we get information, it's largely information already released by the Pentagon. You may know that ABC has sent its senior correspondent home. So, I guess my question is why should we stay? What's the value to us for what we learn at this million-dollar press center?

The words appear polite and reasonably, but I was watching as the questions were proffered. Mr. Wolff’s attitude and body language were anything but respectful. The demeanor could have been likened to a girl from the ‘hood snapping her fingers--a colloquial sign of disrespect.

The spokesman looked at Michael Wolff impassively. (After watching the bristle of Mr. Wolff, I had visions of the spokesman—an Army one-star general; 6'5", slender, but powerfully-built--walking over to his interlocuter and, all Worf-like, gleefully snapping his neck. Fortunately, the spokesman is much more of a diplomat, as we'll see.) That impassive expression remained even as Mr. Wolff’s colleagues applauded him for his gumption. When the applause died down, the spokesman smiled winningly and answered:

Let's -- I've gotten applause already; that's wonderful! I appreciate that. (Laughter.) First, I would say it's your choice. We want to provide information that's truthful from the operational headquarters that is running this war. There are a number of places where information's available, not the least of which would be the embedded media, and they tell a very important story. The Pentagon has a set of information they provide as well. If you're looking for the entire mosaic, then you should be here.

He also reminded them that

General [Tommy] Franks [has] already shown that he's more than willing to come and talk to you at the right time. But he's fighting a war right now. And he has me to do this for him.

(All emphasis mine.)

The spokesman’s name is Brigadier General Vincent Brooks and he is the person I’d like to see as the new White House press secretary. Of course he’d have to resign his commission and retire first. And this would be a step down for the handsome, telegenic West Point-graduate (at the top of his class, no less) and member of a family of generals.

However, it would be quite entertaining to watch as the White House press corps tried to unsettle him—a man who is used to wading through the political morass that lead to his single shoulder board-borne star. (The fact that he is black would make things interesting, but, as we have seen from the senate confirmation of now-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, being black is no shield against being grilled in public—if one is a Republican. I’d call that progress--somewhat.)

General Brooks handled Mr. Wolff (and the other press types) with grace, aplomb and good humor. The thought of his wielding that long-honed ‘military bearing’ against a notoriously obnoxious and demonstrably undisciplined White House press corps is irresistible. Additionally, I don't think that Mr. Wolff--or anyone else--will be using the words of a junior high school class bully on someone like Vincent Brooks.

(Thanks to The McLaughlin Group and to CNN)

Comments

[Cobb]

Wow. How cool would that be? I think I've seen this cat before. He's got 'the bomb' written all over him.

[Justin]

I don't think that being "intimidating" will work with the press corps for long. The secret to being a good press secretary is to be able to stand there and say things that are clearly counter to reality without feeling bad about it. Ari was good at it, Scott wasn't.

[wfgn]

I remember this exchange between BG Vincent Brooks and Wolff (he looks like a hyena or a hungry coyote on the pick) and the General was a perfect spokerman but I think he is too bright to accept a job that deals with a pack of unruly adult brats.

[donsurber]

I forgot abvout Brooks. Good choice. I prefer deputy WH communicator, Dana Perino. She is telegenic, too

[Christopher Taylor]

What matters most to me is if the Press Secretary can do a better job getting the message out and dealing with a treacherous, hostile press. Whatever virtues the last Press Secretaries had, none of them were able to deal with this facet as well as Donald Rumsfeld.

[silvermine]

I vote for Kim DuToit. ;)

http://www.theothersideofkim.com/index.php/tos/9261/

[Justin]

I would suggest hiring someone that actually answers the press's questions. ;-)

[Tony]

I vote for Kim DuToit. ;)

*BANG!* "Next question?"

:)

[James M. Barber]

Army brats usually do well under pressure. Gen Davis and son did very well when times were a lot tougher for blacks in the military. Unfortunately the press corps want to tear apart press secretaries. They do not have to confirmed by the Senate!
James M. Barber

[Justin]

I have a lot of respect for Brooks, but I think he would make a terrible press secretary. A good press secretary's (like Ari) job is to get the President's message out, even if it contradicts basic facts and the truth. This takes a certain weasel-like quality, and a gift for using a lot of words to say nothing--these aren't attributes I'd assign to Brooks. This isn't a knock on Bush--this is something a press secretary for any administration must do.

Also, a press secretary's job is not to intimidate, but to get the press to report the White House message. The more hostile the relationship, the less likely the President's message will get out.

Am I the only here that thinks the press SHOULD be unruly and ask difficult, if sometimes obnoxious, questions?

[Ernie G]

Michael Woolf's apparently weird use of hyphens may be an artifact of word processing software. "Soft" hyphens serve to hyphenate a word at the end of a line and disappear when the word is moved to the middle of a line. A document containing "soft" hyphens may have these converted to "hard" hyphens if the document is copied, as by cut-and-paste.

His screed is weird enough as it is.

[T-Steel]

Am I the only here that thinks the press SHOULD be unruly and ask difficult, if sometimes obnoxious, questions?

Your not alone Justin. I feel the same way. Also I feel that if the Press Secretary wants to get all unruly and obnoxious also back, that's makes for wonderful entertainment. So I don't really care who's going to be all "tough" with the Washington Press Corp. Big deal. I just want some quality Washington entertainment. Cause when you break it down, the President of the United States of America should be giving us the straight dope or no dope all the time.

[PoliticalCritic]

I think you should just let Snow become WH Press Secretary. After all, Fox is basically the PR arm of the White House, so Snow has already been doing the job for years. It's like getting promoted from within.

[Francis W. Porretto]

Any of the various nominees for press secretary would do, provided the following change were made in tandem:

All press conferences, whether regularly scheduled or irregular, shall be attended by two heavily armed sergeants-at-arms -- full-auto Heckler & Koch MP5s would be about right -- fully authorized to use any means necessary to suppress anything they feel like suppressing.

It would certainly make the press room more colorful. Especially if the cleaning crew were judiciously tardy about dealing with the bloodstains.

[Maggie]

I always thought Tory did a great job at the Pentagon. And, obviously, so did Rumsfeld - not an easy task-master. She has a very calm demeanor but a very quick wit.

Snow, of course, is also "top of the heap"!

I am just afraid that since their names are "out there" neither one will not get the job.

[Beth]

General "Don't get stuck on stupid" Honore would be good, too.

[Beth]

WOULD General Brooks have to resign?

Colin Powell served in as Reagan's last National Security Adviser while still on active duty, so maybe Brooks wouldn't have to resign...?

[Velociman]

Poor Scottie was never the man for that job. Who is? It's tough. I would recommend Dennis Hopper as spokesman, and Vinnie Brooks as President of the United States. I love that guy.

[Tully]

I have great sympathy for any White House Press Secretary, be it Stephanopolous or McLellan. It has to be the absolute worst job to hold in the White House. You are kept in the dark and handed talking points, which you parrot. Then you get to take ALL the heat. Daily.

A Truth: The office comes with a ceremonial presentation to the new appointee from the previous holder, regardless of their respective parties. The item presented is a flak jacket.

[The Anchoress]

Ahem...

Gen. Brooks is awfully easy on the eyes...I wouldn't mind tuning into the pressers if he was running them.

A vast improvement, at least visually, from Scotty. And if Baldi likes him, that says a lot.

[Janette]

Hmm, I'm a fan of Tony Snow's laid back manner but I must admit that if General Brooks got the job I'd probably be surfing CSPAN a lot more often for the White House press briefings. Yum!

[Silicon valley Jim]

Justin:

Am I the only here that thinks the press SHOULD be unruly and ask difficult, if sometimes obnoxious, questions?

I agree with you to some extent. The press should not be unruly; there's rarely an excuse to be unruly, and I can't think of one that applies to the press.

The press should ask difficult questions. The problem that I have with many of the questions that reporters ask in press conferences is that they are more than questions: they contain assertions that may or may not be true. I don't have an example to hand, but a made-up example would be "What is this administration doing about global warming?", which contains an assertion that global warming exists, and, at least arguably, an assertion that it is as accepted by the scientific community as, say, Mendel's laws of genetics.

You may not agree with me that reporters ask this sort of question, and I regret that I don't have an example to hand, but I think that there's a fair amount of it.

[G. Brahms]

I remember that exchange between Gen. Brooks and that Wolf person too. My impression was also one of a calm, competent (and sometimes wisely humorous) adult gently admonishing a spoiled brat, not only at particular occasion but quite often. Gen. Brooks received many snarky and even openly hostile comment-questions and responded with plain facts, intelligence and grace. Of course, as WH press secretary, he would have to defend more ambiguous policies and more tangled "facts." Perhaps it's just as well he remain in the army, which I suspect is a more rational enterprise than the Potomically infected operations of the national government.