A Failure to Communicate
By Thomas Lindaman (02/26/06)
President George W. Bush has had plenty of trouble communicating his vision for the country. Some of it is due to his occasional verbal gaffes, some of it is due to Bush's staff, but most of it is due to the people hired to cover the President, the White House Press Corps.
Watching the Press Corps go after White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan over the Dick Cheney hunting accident was disturbing to say the least. I've seen divorces that were less ugly than the feeding frenzy over the accident and the implications of it. Namely, why Cheney decided to wait to tell the press until, oh I don't know, until Harry Whittington was tended to medically and whether that constituted, drum roll please…a conspiracy to hide something that would justify Cheney stepping down. With this hostile a press, it's a wonder the Bush Administration can get any message out without it being parsed, spun, respun, reparsed, dry cleaned, and repackaged to say something completely different than what the Administration official said.
Such is the case with the recent flap over the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) taking control of six major ports in the United States. As someone who is undecided on the issue, let me tell you it's difficult to find facts on the actual deal itself. The story has been so spun and attacked from both sides that it's hard to get to the heart of the matter. President Bush wasn't exactly a big help either when he said he wasn't aware of the deal until the proposal came across his desk.
Does anyone really buy this? Something this huge has to have the President's fingerprints one it somewhere, so it's hard for me to think Bush, someone I consider to be far more intelligent than his critics say he is, could be surprised by this deal. It would be like Hillary Clinton testifying before Congress about Whitewater and then claiming she didn't know anything about…okay, bad example, but you see my point.
In thinking about the matter further, I've come to the conclusion that the "I didn't know about the deal" line Bush put out there was designed to give a tidy explanation for the turn of events that would fly with the American people. And more often than not, it does. Americans today aren't exactly the most engaged people when it comes to matters beyond "Survivor" and "The Apprentice." I've seen people get into heated discussions over the blood type of the latest contestants to be voted off "American Idol" but ask them details about the port deal and they look at you like you're from another planet. (Note to people who do this, it's usually better if you leave your "I'm A Venuvian Slimesucker from Planet Zoltar" t-shirt at home that day.)
Then, it hit me. I came up with an idea that will help the President get out his message and not insult the intelligence of those of us who are a little better informed on world events. He needs to start holding two press conferences, one for the people who understand world events, and one for those who don't. And for the record, most of the media would be lumped into the latter group.
The way it would work is like this. You have two concurrent press conferences, one with Scott McClellan who addresses the people who don't get it in one room, and one with another White House official who addresses the people who do get it in another room. McClellan will field the press questions like "Does Dick Cheney owe America an apology for 'Underworld: Evolutions'?" Then, McClellan can field the inept questions from people who think the UAE is the name of Al Gore's new TV network.
Meanwhile, another White House official will field questions like "What implications do you foresee with relations with Dubai should this port deal be rejected?" These serious, thoughtful questions would be a great way for the Administration to get out the real message to people who understand the situation and can then convey it and the Administration's position to the people.
Then when both conferences are done, the reporters go about their own ways to do their stories. Sure, there might be some intermingling of information among reporters. Consider this possible exchange:
Reporter #1: Dr. Rice's explanation of the Administration's stance towards Hamas was enlightening. What did you find out today, Joe?
Joe: The Administration warned us jelly beans should not be used to make burritos. Oh, and Scott McClellan entertained us with a puppet show.
However, I think this exchange of information might inspire some of the reporters in the "don't get it" pool to elevate their games to get to the "get it" pool. Once enough reporters prove they can handle the truth, then we can go back to one press conference at a time. Until then, it has to be two.
Mr. President, I will await your decision on this idea.
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