A lot of folks

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A lot of folks in the Bush administration have risen to the occasion of late; but that only shines a harsher light on the folks whose true colors are coming through in these arduous days. At the top of the list of course is Ari Fleischer.

Clarity, after a fashion, is one of Fleischer’s most refreshing qualities. Unlike most others in his field of work, in Fleischer we have all the complicating traces which make up the higher alloys burned away to reveal the pure metal of hackdom: embarrassingly little knowledge of the subjects he discusses, still less of the talent of a Karen Hughes, and none of the ethical ballast which gives the likes of Mike McCurry their dramatic tension.

Let’s just touch on a few points.

Ari’s part in the bogus story about the specific threat to Air Force One. (Just a note, I don’t think the president had anything to apologize for, staying away from DC for a few hours, while the capital had all the feel of a war zone. But the lies of lackeys like Ari are revealing and scandalous).

Ari’s crass and pitiful phone call to NBC execs trying to squelch an interview with Bill Clinton, on the rationale that national unity required keeping the former president off the airwaves.

(BTW, is anyone noticing that Jake Tapper is breaking big stories on the 9/11 aftermath about twice a week now?)

Ari’s clumsy effort to exploit our calamity to blunt any criticism of the executive branch, referenced briefly in Paul Krugman’s Times column.

And these are only the offense after September 11th (bogus White House vandalism story, etc.). Isn’t it time this guy comes in for some serious criticism, and not just from the alternative press?

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