Somewhere deep in the Ninth Circle of Bureaucracy, there's a dusty handbook on how to be a White House spokesperson. Pretty sure it didn’t say, “Lie with the conviction of a TikTok influencer selling diet tea.” But here we are.
Watching Leavitt, Parnell, and Cheung feels like being trapped in a bad improv class where every prompt is “defend the indefensible” and nobody’s allowed to blink. They don’t brief—they gaslight. They don’t clarify—they tantrum. It's like Mean Girls got jobs in federal comms.
At this point, the Hatch Act is just a punchline. And the punchline is us.
I don’t think any institution surprised me in a good way. I have only seen a few individuals who actually have a spine. Honorable mentions are Danielle Sassoon, Phyllis Fong, and so far so good for Jerome Powell.
Who stepped up more than I expected? Blue states govenors and AGs. It’s hard to pick who has surprised me by their corruption and cruelty. DHS/ICE is certainly the most public. SCOTUS perhaps the most damaging. If we don’t have the rule of law, really, we’ve lost the game because anything and everything else is possible, especially the currently unimaginable.
Enjoyed the piece about the WH spokesholes. Leavitt has been leaving off her cross as she lies in a very un-christian manner. Isn't there something about bearing false witness? Parnell - oh, what a piece of work. I'll leave that there. As for Cheung, wow, that guy needs serious anger management classes. I remember when WH spokespeople were not allowed to be partisan, hence the Hatch Act. I remember when Karine Jean-Pierre slipped once and the rethugs were all over her, about to file a violation against her. But with this regime, it's just the same old same old, day after day.
Surprised by the failure of the Democratic Party leadership to rise to the occasion. The number of people who decided to set their reputations and electability on fire in the past six months.
I wasn’t surprised by the Republicans. I expected them to cave.
I don’t know if it’s a pleasant surprise, but if you had told 25 year old me that I would be on the same side as people like Liz Cheney, Charlie Sykes, and Bill Kristol…
And feeling deep admiration for them all. For their willingness to speak out, regardless of political cost ( especially Liz Cheney), in person, in writing, in action.
I am responding to the prompt: but take note-- the prompt itself makes it difficult to follow the '2/3 kind rule'
As a long time academic and then academic administrator at several 'top tier' universities, I have been appalled by the gutlessness, the unwillingness to stand on principle (if not now, when), the lack of sophisticated response, the inability to coordinate efforts behind common goals, values and responsibilities to the body politic of university Presidents/Chancellors. Of course this should not be surprising since Presidents/Chancellors are beholden to their Boards who themselves are moved to support the institutions though rarely, if ever, at the expense of their companies. Similar remarks are in order for 'news' media.
A liberal democracy depends not on voting (as a way of expressing individual preferences) but as John Ferejohn and I argued a few decades ago voting as a way of giving voice to informed judgment. Among the institutions most important to informed judgment that underlies the values of democratic self-governance include a vibrant press and thoughtful as well as thought provoking system of higher education.
Without much of a fight, let alone a unified effort, both institutions have shown themselves unable to respond to a malignant attack of disinformation (which has gone on for years now) whose sole purpose is not to get individuals to believe false claims, but to have them become deeply skeptical of the very notion of epistemic authority, the value of which depends on trust (the destruction of which is essential to the disinformation project). At the same time, they have succumbed to a 'bullying, threatening and coercive' government that is committed to replacing political authority with raw power.
The net effect of the combination of destroying institutions of epistemic and political authority is a populace reliant on a single power as the source of information and the author of actions taken in the name of us all, while marking those who exercise independent critical judgment as 'enemies' of the people. With so much so obviously at stake, the cowardice of those who lead these institutions is striking, in effect rendering them accessories before and during the fact of the likely end of grandest of all political experiments in modern times.
Thank you Bulwark readers for your comments. My partner and I often feel helpless and overwhelmed by the corruption in this administration. Just knowing there’s others who are outraged helps.
"By the way, Cheung, like Leavitt and Parnell, is compensated at executive schedule level 4, which means he is—and they are—paid $195,200 per year. Where’s DOGE when we need it?"
Be nice, it is hard work constantly having to come up with lies to cover for your mentally deficient boss who appears to be suffering from adult onset dementia, or resorting to school yard insults to avoid having to admit that he is suffering from just that. Note his apparent inability to string together coherent sentences to form a logical argument, relying instead on grade-school words and grammar, or to recall what he said minutes ago, and his clear unwillingness to answer unscripted questions almost all of which he wants to hear as impolite or demeaning.
I'm totally amazed by how easily Leavitt can come up with the absolute BS that comes out of her mouth when answering any question asked of her. It's like she's done this all her life 😉
Well, I have no idea what she did before she landed this job, but she clearly did something that made her attractive (not only visually) to the Felon. Perhaps she won a contest, The Most Convincing Prevaricator, or the Falsest Gum in the West (I know it is not grammatical, but I doubt that would bother the Felon, if he even noticed).
Removed beautiful living plants to be replaces by rock. Deforest trees in federal land. Drill, baby, drill for oil. Cut emissions standards, and bring back coal. Yes, that is our environmental president.
The daily ugh - this is how I start my mornings, reading about the state of the country and the world.
But since you're now in Cincy, Jim, today is Ridge Day (https://www.pleasantridge.org/ridgeday). I'll be there or nearby much of the day. There are also sneak peak tours of The Ridge at 1 and 3 PM, the new apartment building opening in the next few weeks (https://www.theridgelife.com/). It's the first major multifamily housing built in this neighborhood in 60 years.
And in honor of Ridge Day, it's the annual Ridge Ramble bike ride at 10 AM, which takes us on a tour of streets in Pleasant Ridge and nearby neighborhoods.
Can you imagine if the communications director or spokesperson for any Fortune 500 company spoke or acted like the three clowns referenced in Bill Lueder’s article? Their lack of character is astonishing, and yet…they perfectly embody the Trump administration.
Somewhere deep in the Ninth Circle of Bureaucracy, there's a dusty handbook on how to be a White House spokesperson. Pretty sure it didn’t say, “Lie with the conviction of a TikTok influencer selling diet tea.” But here we are.
Watching Leavitt, Parnell, and Cheung feels like being trapped in a bad improv class where every prompt is “defend the indefensible” and nobody’s allowed to blink. They don’t brief—they gaslight. They don’t clarify—they tantrum. It's like Mean Girls got jobs in federal comms.
At this point, the Hatch Act is just a punchline. And the punchline is us.
Retired DOJ employee who is disgusted and saddened by what Trump and Bondi have dont to DOJ.
The WH press secretary and other spokesmen are so blatantly rude in addition to being sock puppets for Trump.
I don’t think any institution surprised me in a good way. I have only seen a few individuals who actually have a spine. Honorable mentions are Danielle Sassoon, Phyllis Fong, and so far so good for Jerome Powell.
Thumbs up to Canada and the NorBal8.
Who stepped up more than I expected? Blue states govenors and AGs. It’s hard to pick who has surprised me by their corruption and cruelty. DHS/ICE is certainly the most public. SCOTUS perhaps the most damaging. If we don’t have the rule of law, really, we’ve lost the game because anything and everything else is possible, especially the currently unimaginable.
Enjoyed the piece about the WH spokesholes. Leavitt has been leaving off her cross as she lies in a very un-christian manner. Isn't there something about bearing false witness? Parnell - oh, what a piece of work. I'll leave that there. As for Cheung, wow, that guy needs serious anger management classes. I remember when WH spokespeople were not allowed to be partisan, hence the Hatch Act. I remember when Karine Jean-Pierre slipped once and the rethugs were all over her, about to file a violation against her. But with this regime, it's just the same old same old, day after day.
Surprised by the non-Supreme Court federal judges. Glad they have shown some backbone and independent judgement that seems to elude our Supreme Court.
Surprised by the failure of the Democratic Party leadership to rise to the occasion. The number of people who decided to set their reputations and electability on fire in the past six months.
I wasn’t surprised by the Republicans. I expected them to cave.
I don’t know if it’s a pleasant surprise, but if you had told 25 year old me that I would be on the same side as people like Liz Cheney, Charlie Sykes, and Bill Kristol…
And feeling deep admiration for them all. For their willingness to speak out, regardless of political cost ( especially Liz Cheney), in person, in writing, in action.
I am responding to the prompt: but take note-- the prompt itself makes it difficult to follow the '2/3 kind rule'
As a long time academic and then academic administrator at several 'top tier' universities, I have been appalled by the gutlessness, the unwillingness to stand on principle (if not now, when), the lack of sophisticated response, the inability to coordinate efforts behind common goals, values and responsibilities to the body politic of university Presidents/Chancellors. Of course this should not be surprising since Presidents/Chancellors are beholden to their Boards who themselves are moved to support the institutions though rarely, if ever, at the expense of their companies. Similar remarks are in order for 'news' media.
A liberal democracy depends not on voting (as a way of expressing individual preferences) but as John Ferejohn and I argued a few decades ago voting as a way of giving voice to informed judgment. Among the institutions most important to informed judgment that underlies the values of democratic self-governance include a vibrant press and thoughtful as well as thought provoking system of higher education.
Without much of a fight, let alone a unified effort, both institutions have shown themselves unable to respond to a malignant attack of disinformation (which has gone on for years now) whose sole purpose is not to get individuals to believe false claims, but to have them become deeply skeptical of the very notion of epistemic authority, the value of which depends on trust (the destruction of which is essential to the disinformation project). At the same time, they have succumbed to a 'bullying, threatening and coercive' government that is committed to replacing political authority with raw power.
The net effect of the combination of destroying institutions of epistemic and political authority is a populace reliant on a single power as the source of information and the author of actions taken in the name of us all, while marking those who exercise independent critical judgment as 'enemies' of the people. With so much so obviously at stake, the cowardice of those who lead these institutions is striking, in effect rendering them accessories before and during the fact of the likely end of grandest of all political experiments in modern times.
That is true, I didn't set everyone up for success with the prompt. That's on me.
Not to worry. Given my actual feelings on the range of institutions that are failing, my comments were, relatively speaking, kind
Thank you Bulwark readers for your comments. My partner and I often feel helpless and overwhelmed by the corruption in this administration. Just knowing there’s others who are outraged helps.
“Moderate” GOP senators. As Sarah has repeatedly said, they are useless.
The confirmation process not even pushing back was a surprise. They didn’t even pretend to try
"By the way, Cheung, like Leavitt and Parnell, is compensated at executive schedule level 4, which means he is—and they are—paid $195,200 per year. Where’s DOGE when we need it?"
Be nice, it is hard work constantly having to come up with lies to cover for your mentally deficient boss who appears to be suffering from adult onset dementia, or resorting to school yard insults to avoid having to admit that he is suffering from just that. Note his apparent inability to string together coherent sentences to form a logical argument, relying instead on grade-school words and grammar, or to recall what he said minutes ago, and his clear unwillingness to answer unscripted questions almost all of which he wants to hear as impolite or demeaning.
I'm totally amazed by how easily Leavitt can come up with the absolute BS that comes out of her mouth when answering any question asked of her. It's like she's done this all her life 😉
Well, I have no idea what she did before she landed this job, but she clearly did something that made her attractive (not only visually) to the Felon. Perhaps she won a contest, The Most Convincing Prevaricator, or the Falsest Gum in the West (I know it is not grammatical, but I doubt that would bother the Felon, if he even noticed).
She’s very young (27) and worked for Trump 1. Ran unsuccessfully for office. More here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karoline_Leavitt
Removed beautiful living plants to be replaces by rock. Deforest trees in federal land. Drill, baby, drill for oil. Cut emissions standards, and bring back coal. Yes, that is our environmental president.
The daily ugh - this is how I start my mornings, reading about the state of the country and the world.
But since you're now in Cincy, Jim, today is Ridge Day (https://www.pleasantridge.org/ridgeday). I'll be there or nearby much of the day. There are also sneak peak tours of The Ridge at 1 and 3 PM, the new apartment building opening in the next few weeks (https://www.theridgelife.com/). It's the first major multifamily housing built in this neighborhood in 60 years.
And in honor of Ridge Day, it's the annual Ridge Ramble bike ride at 10 AM, which takes us on a tour of streets in Pleasant Ridge and nearby neighborhoods.
The weather is lovely -- come see us!
Can you imagine if the communications director or spokesperson for any Fortune 500 company spoke or acted like the three clowns referenced in Bill Lueder’s article? Their lack of character is astonishing, and yet…they perfectly embody the Trump administration.
And they violate the Hatch Act every. Single. Day!