Poor Jay Carney. As the official Press Tap-Dancer for the Obama Administration, it is his job to make the lies of his boss sound a little less nefarious. (Of course, I’m paraphrasing the job description.) And like many liberals who allow their utopian promises to paint them into an intellectual corner, Carney is resorting to verbal abuse, condescension, and arrogance. Yesterday’s exchange between Jon Karl and the White House Press Jester is the latest example of Carney’s habitual harassment of reporters who dare to ask hard questions.
Maybe the White House has become so accustomed to the beltway media gleefully echoing the talking points distributed by Mr. Carney, that actual questions have become more of an annoyance than a regular occurrence in the Briefing Room. Regardless, the manner in which this White House scoffs, mocks, and belittles reporters who dare to ask pointed questions is indicative of an amateur administration struggling with the collapse of their signature initiative.
At issue is the President’s most recent lie on Obamacare: You can bypass the website and apply by phone or in person. . . And potentially enroll in Obamacare in as little as 25 minutes.
Yes. . . There is a reason to be quizzical: No one will be enrolled in 25 minutes. And to suggest so is dishonest, disingenuous, and just this side of lying. (I’ll let you decide what “this side of lying” actually means.) So, let’s spot the asterisk in this Obama-sponsored promise. The truth is, even if an individual was able to successfully connect with a representative and “apply” on the phone, they still wouldn’t be enrolled; because all applications still have to go through Healthcare.gov. . . Which is where the bottle-neck is.
Get it? Everyone, regardless of how they apply, are in the same non-working Healthcare.gov queue. There is no expeditious alternative to the website. Now imagine if you called Geico for auto insurance, and after 15 minutes of handing over personal information the representative told you they would contact you in several days with some quotes. . . Do you think the Fed’s might look at Geico’s “fifteen minute” promise with some potentially skeptical investigative eyes?
Well, when the President is responsible for that kind of false advertising (apparently this is actually a staple in implementing Healthcare.gov) reporters are supposed to shut up, and let him get away with it.
Carney’s reaction to Jon Karl’s questioning on the topic is, however, a moment of unintentional transparency. Apparently the White House “professional” has decided the best course of action is to mock reporters who dare to ask for clarification on dubious Team-Obama promises.
Jon Karl is treated like an idiot, because he fails to swallow Carney’s dizzying “explanation.” The exchange is reminiscent of the thousands of times Carney accused Fox News reporters of “sticking to a narrative” or suggesting that the scandal of the day was a “manufactured” crises. Rather than answering questions (I thought that was actually his job description) the Press Secretary has adopted the tactics of discrediting the questioner.
And, in all fairness, Carney does not own the patent on this arrogant style of deflection. This is an attitude that is is deeply entrenched in the White House. It was adopted with great success by Obama’s campaign army in the 2012 election cycle.
People who dare to question our great Campaigner in Chief are portrayed as intellectually inferior, simply motivated by some sort of political dedication, or often downright evil. The fact that the White House Press Jester can’t simply do his best to satisfactorily answer Karl’s question, but must resort to petty verbal abuse, is illustrative of the ideological weakness in his argument.
Defense of Obamacare’s merits are apparently not an option anymore for Obama cheerleaders. Which explains the administration’s employment of half-truths, out-right lies, censored information, and verbal ridicule of any attempt at honest reporting. And the Administration’s only career cheerleader, Jay Carney, has adopted this tact with reckless abandon.
Then again, how else do we expect Carney to defend claims like “you can keep your insurance if you like it” or “you can sign up in as little as 25 minutes”? I guess insults and temper tantrums are the only thing left in his repertoire, given the ruined Presidency he is expected to defend on a daily basis.
And if you think Carney is getting overly defensive now, just imagine if we had a press that was honestly dedicated to investigative journalism. Pretty soon we’d hear that the Press Briefings will be closed due to sequester budget cuts (darn Republicans).