The Definition of Classless
For two years, Robert Gibbs was the constant mouthpiece of an Obama Campaign that systematically insulted the Bush Administration on a daily basis. The only person to utter the phrase “failed policies of the past eight years” more frequently was Barack Obama himself. Through all of this, the Bush Administration understood the basic principle that leadership means rising above the pettiness of a given day…in fact, the Bush Administration took this approach to its detriment and to a fault. Even when it should have spoken up, it did not.
But as the pendulum swings, we now find ourselves on the other side of the looking glass.
We now find ourselves with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, an utterly classless person, who never passes up an opportunity to use his pulpit to ridicule those who criticize this President (even if he and his boss come across as hypocrites in the process). Consider his comments from yesterday, in response to an interview given by Dick Cheney in which the former Vice President was critical of President Obama’s approach to national security:
“Well, I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy,” Gibbs said to laughter during his daily briefing with reporters. “So they trotted out the next most popular member of the Republican cabal.”
This man is the second most public face of this presidential administration. And, yet, rather than address anything substantive about the criticisms leveled at his boss, he deflects by ridiculing those who disagree. And the use of the word “cabal” is important…it is yet another insight into the views of this President.
George W. Bush may have been the one to say, “You’re either with us or against us,” but at least he believed he was waging a war on behalf of Americans as a whole. President Obama knows that at least 47% of the American public questions his political philosophy, but preaches of resounding unity and an absence of time for debate. Moreover, for President Obama, dissent will not only be deemed intolerable, it will be mocked into silence by the classless Mr. Gibbs.
