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I've just learned that #PsakiBomb is a thing and I'm very sad.
Even if you like a president, cheering on behalf of their press secretary against the press is more or less deranged. Their job is to obfuscate and dodge, to deceive through omission & language games. Their job is maximizing the president's brand. They're not your friend.
And to be clear the White House press corp deserves lots of criticism, all of the time. But being a cheerleader for a president's comms operation is just undignified, friends. A press secretary who excels at their job is good at thwarting transparency, which is key for democracy.
Stan culture on social media is, alas, probably part of the problem. Just widespread adoration of anyone with sound-bites that match your tribe, without any analysis of power or institutional context. https://twitter.com/ClareMalone/status/1355217460161601536
Of course, they're completely different. But I don't see why that should cause anyone to forget what a politician's job is and what the media's job is. And the media being bad at it oftentimes is not reason to gush over White House zingers. https://twitter.com/MettTc/status/1356346641054228490
People are tweeting brain-dead things like: Zero lies detected during that press briefing! :)
All politicians lie. The good ones lie. The good ones are often more adept at lying, in fact — they're subtle and strategic about it. Citizens should always assume a skeptical posture.
All politicians lie. The good ones lie. The good ones are often more adept at lying, in fact — they're subtle and strategic about it. Citizens should always assume a skeptical posture.
This is all a reminder of the need to develop sophisticated taxonomies of untruth and falsehood. Years of disinformation from the WH has left some liberal citizens impressed by normal politician caginess and spin now and lowered their guard.
