My guess is that Dunn's expressed admiration for Mao is the cause of her departure. For this revelation, I suppose we have to thank Fox's Glenn Beck. He aired a tape of Dunn notifying an audience of students at St. Andrew's Episcopal School near Washington that this cuddly little butterball of a tyrant -- who oversaw the murders of some 70 million people -- is one of her "favorite philosophers." The other one, she said, is Mother Teresa, who killed no one, as far as we know. Dunn adduced both as moral exemplars for the assembled youths. Her point was something about setting out to do things you really want to do regardless of criticism. If I followed her, she saw both Mao and Mother Teresa as variations on the old Sinatra standard "My Way." In moral and practical terms, Dunn's advice to the students was confused.
What is more, she stretched the truth when asked to defend her speech. On CNN, she attempted to explain that when she spoke of Mao as one of her "favorite political philosophers," she was speaking ironically. The phrase was, she claimed, "intended as irony, but clearly the effort fell flat -- at least with a certain Fox commentator whose sense of irony may be missing." Ah, Dunn's war with Fox continues.
Yet by now, many have viewed the tape that Beck aired, and I doubt they perceived any irony. Was she being ironic about Mother Teresa, too, and if so, why? To be blunt, Dunn's explanation is a lie. She is one of those ritualistic liberals who specialize in putting people on, in disturbing the peace. Disturbing the peace is a timeless liberal value, but sometimes the liberal misdemeanant goes too far. You cannot have a White House communications director advocating Mao as a role model for America's youth. Thus, she is going, going, gone. I cannot wait for the next White House zany.