By Michael S. Johnson
Foreign Dignitaries Who Should Brush up on Their Manners
Mexican President Felipe Calderon came to the United states on May 21st, stepped up to the podium on the Floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, and condemned the people of Arizona.
It is one thing for the President of the United States to criticize the Arizonans. It is yet another for a foreign head of state. It is yet another for a foreign head of state to do it in the United States. It is yet another for a foreign head of state to do it while exercising a rare privilege afforded to only a very few Americans, let alone foreigners–to speak before the Congress of the United States from the podium of the people’s House.
Rock legend Paul McCartney was awarded the Library of Congress’ Gershwin Award at the White House a week or so ago. Standing in our White House, accepting an award from our President McCartney, I guess emboldened by Calderon, took the opportunity to insult former President Bush, saying at least he was getting the award from a President who knew what a library was. He could have at least waited until he got outside.
More on Arizona
President Calderon’s impertinence paled in comparison to the impenitence of Assistant Secretary of State Mike Posner, who repeatedly described the Arizona legislation as a “troubling trend in our society” to none other than the Chinese, at none other than a human rights conference. Why does he still have his job?
Joe Biden
Our Vice President continued the slaps at the U.S. in Belgium a couple of weeks ago. He said in prepared remarks that “Brussels probably now qualified for the capital of the free world,” a title Americans have assumed and taken pride in for a long time. Prepared remarks. Think about it.
The Post’s Slap at Jindal
There’s a politician involved in the Gulf Oil crisis who is giving government a good name. It’s Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. You would never know it reading the Washington Post.
On Tuesday, May 18th, the Post ran a story by David Fahrenthold about Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and his role in the Gulf Coast oil spill.
The first paragraph condensed into one single word, what is wrong with the new look of traditional media today. The first paragraph read: “Strapped into a National Guard Black Hawk, peering down at green water mottled with oil sheen, the most serious man in Louisiana is starting to sound ridiculous.”
Describing Jindal as ridiculous in a news article, not a commentary, on the front page of the Post, not on the editorial page, was, well ridiculous. It was also arrogant, biased and wrong.
More on Jindal
I have found very curious the drumbeat of criticism of Governor Jindal for asking the Federal Government for help in one of the worst catastrophes of modern times. Several liberal columnists who are becoming spokesmen for the Administration have, like a chorus with one director, heaped scorn on the Governor for being an advocate of limited government and then running to the government for help in time of trouble. Notable is E. J. Dionne who did it a day after attending a private White House briefing.
I don’t know of any advocate of limited government, maybe with the exception of Rand Paul, who does not see a legitimate role for government, particularly in emergencies that are truly national crises, not local or even regional. There’s a difference between the concept limited government and anarchy.
Federal Hiring
I’ve talked to friends recently who work for the Federal Government, in two different departments. They both talked about the idiocy of Federal hiring, which is so slow it can take six months to get someone on board. President Obama is tyring to fix that. He’s instructed federal agencies to overhaul the process and cut in half the time it takes to fill a vacancy. Good, but don’t stop at three months.
News Leaks and the Times Square Bomber
Someone leaked the name of the suspect in the attempted bombing of Times Square, so when law enforcement arrived at his home to arrest him the media was already there, cameras rolling to record the arrest. I haven’t heard anything about it since the initial reports. The media, federal prosecutors and members of Congress should not let that incident drop.
Reporters Writing Books Follow Up
I wrote recently about the ethics of reporters writing books and deliberately withholding from publication news that they gather while researching their books. It is unethical and an insult to readers and listeners who do not expect news to be withheld from them so a reporter can personally profit from it six or nine months later.
A recent report in Politico addressed that subject. In it was this:
“At least one of the authors on the current list, speaking on background in order to protect his continuing access to officials inside the Obama White House, told Fox News he occasionally withholds information from his deadline reporting, to use it instead in his book.”
Quotations for Your Week
More quotations to ponder. I do not know where I got them, only that I have picked them up along the way, written them down and kept them to read on days in politics when no one seems to have anything worthwhile to say, of which there are many.
“Washington is a city of southern efficiency and northern charm.”
John Kennedy
“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isn’t being said.”
Peter Drucker
“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.”
Old Chinese proverb
“To love someone deeply givesyou strength. Being loved by someone deeply gives you courage.”
Lao-Tzu
And, finally for those who made so much of the few idiots who marred the rallies in Washington on the health care bill some weeks ago, this:
“There is no cause so right that one cannot find a fool following it.”
Niven’s Law #16 (science writer Larry Niven)
Editors’s Note: Mike Johnson is a former journalist, who worked on the Ford White House staff and served as press secretary and chief of staff to House Republican Leader Bob Michel, prior to entering the private sector. He is co-author of a book, Surviving Congress, a guide for congressional staff. He is currently a principal with the OB-C Group.