Jay Carney foresees his dreadful future
And yet, like Cassandra, he can’t prevent it.
Carney, speaking in 2006:
I first posted this video six months ago, and it’s only become more apropos since then. I have to avert my eyes now when clips of Carney come on. There is something mortifying about even about being a witness to such voluntary self-degradation.
[ADDENDUM: Carney is caught in a terrible dilemma, unless he is completely amoral (which I don’t think he is, but I certainly could be wrong about that). He either has to lie for the president, day after day, in the most public and embarrassing way possible, or he must publicly break away and become a traitor to his fellows, shunned and despised, and off the guest list at the best parties.
It may sound as though I’m making light of this, but I’m not. How many people have that sort of courage? How many would instead find themselves compromising bit by bit, until they find in the end that they have become something they once would have hated and despised? I don’t know the numbers, but I believe that last group is not small.
I have a dream. It’s a little fantasy I know will not occur. But I still like it. In my dream, Carney stops one day in mid-sentence, looks up at the press corps, and says, “You know, I just can’t do this anymore.” Then he walks out, and walks away from the job.
I know that, even were that to happen (which it will not), Obama would only hire a new liar. There would be many eager for the chance at the spotlight. But still, if Carney could do that, it would be a great moment, wouldn’t it?]
When you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.
This is what happens when you are the spokesman for an habitual liar. Boo hoo.
The odious, flatulent mouthpiece of Obama & Co.
Matt_SE:
But if he had any integrity at all he’d leave the kennel and go for a flea-bath.
Both Carney and his wife, ABC’s Claire Shipman, are deep in the D.C. swamp. I think she was once also NBC’s White House correspondent, wasn’t she? Beyond being shunned and despised and missing the best parties, what would they do for a livelihood?
No one is paying me to make a fool of myself like Carney is being paid (in both money and social prestige in D.C.), so I can’t be sure what I would do in Carney’s situation- stay on or resign. However, I can tell you this- no amount of money would keep me from being deeply ashamed at prostituting myself that way. I like to think I would quit.
My mother said that Carney’s credibility is destroyed; now he has no [market value].
On the contrary: he’s proven his ability to BS in the face of incontrovertible fact. At times, he’s stood up to withering fire (meaning to say: at times, the press has done its job).
His market value as a spokesman has never been higher; especially for “ethically challenged” groups outside of government.
Yancey Ward:
I could be imagining it, but I see shame on his face and in his demeanor. Not a lot, but some.
Although maybe he’s just ashamed he’s not a better liar.
How many times before have we heard the defense: “I’m just doing my job. I’m just following orders.”
That’s true on both sides of the aisle. Remember what happened to Ted Cruz who dared to speak against the Republican establishment. That’s why heroes (and heroines) are what they are; the courage to do the right thing stands out in any field of sycophants and sheep.
Two words to describe Carney: Baghdad Bob…. only he was at least amusing.
I’m not sure if he’s demonstrating his value as a spokes-liar because he isn’t doing it well. He has little practice in responding to tough questions, and it shows. He stammers and pauses, ineffectively mocks and scolds his questioners, looks unhappy, ashamed, embarrassed, exasperated — whatever it is — and generally conveys the message that, well, he doesn’t believe his message himself.
Maybe nobody could do this particular task successfully. I rather hope not.
I was in the Navy and Navy regulations required you to dress appropriatly for the activity you were engaged in. If Carney followed this rule he would be dressed like a DC street whore.
I was impressed with Tony Snow’s performance as Bush’s Press Secretary. He was very good at thinking on his feet, doing a good job of defending President Bush’s policies against a hostile press. At the same time, he was truthful. as far as I know.
I wonder what Tony Snow would have done as Obama’s Press Secretary. Perhaps the reply is that Tony Snow would never have debased himself by putting himself in the position of having to defend an unrepentant liar such as Obama.
I think he feels betrayed. These reporters are the very people he shmoozes with at parties. With all his squirming and scowling he’s sending them a message: “Come on, you guys. We all know we’re on the same side. Why are you putting me on the spot?”
“Carney is caught in a terrible dilemma, unless he is completely amoral (which I don’t think he is, but I certainly could be wrong about that). He either has to lie for the president, day after day, in the most public and embarrassing way possible, or he must publicly break away and become a traitor to his fellows, shunned and despised, and off the guest list at the best parties.”
This is not a moral dilemma. It’s a moral failure.
Lying is immoral. The entire problem is that Carney – an bad man who serves the bad masters of leftist post-modernism – does not know that necessarily.
But this is his own fault. Because postmodernism acts as if there is not truth (irrationally), that does not mean there is no truth.
Carney should be shamed, shunned, mocked, berated, belittled and derided all the time, and that for his own good.
The only hope for his own soul is that he be shown how horrible a creature he has become and how harmful and hurtful to others he has become.
He’s a liar. He lies for a living for another liar. He is not a spokes-man. He is a spokes-liar, in the words of his diabolical boss, Period!
Ray,
He is dressed like a DC street whore, metaphorically speaking. It’s just a different street.
Mike:
I did NOT say it was a moral dilemma. I said he was caught in a terrible dilemma, and that it would not be a dilemma, however, if he was a completely amoral person.
The moral answer is clear: resign, and condemn the administration. His dilemma is practical and psychological: he has a lot to lose. But that’s not a moral consideration, it’s a practical and personal one.
In other words, to do the moral thing, he must give up quite a bit. That’s the dilemma for him. If in fact he understands that what’s he’s doing is immoral, which I believe he does. He probably justifies it by saying the ends justify the means, however, although he’s probably well aware of the flaw in that.
Then again, as I said—if he’s amoral, there’s no dilemma for him at all. Except how to lie most effectively.
Mike,
I don’t think Carney is necessarily a post-modernist who thinks there is no truth. He’s in the world of politics, and in that world loyalty is considered a major virtue, and one that trumps all others.
physicsguy: That image comes to my mind every time I hear Carney speak: Baghdad Bob.
The other night ABC news did manage to show Carney mocking (by imitating) the news reporter, that is something I don’t remember Baghdad Bob ever doing; so, in my opinion Carney is more of a fool that Baghdad Bob ever was.
Neo, your fantasy would no doubt kill his future; there are enough amoral folks in Washington who admire his spinning and lying and would hire him in a heartbeat when he is done with his current job; but, his walking off the job as you describe would kill any future he might have. Washington doesn’t mind liars, most of them are liars; However, Washington does not like disloyalty – that’s a big no-no. “Lie to the little people; but don’t diss me” seems to be one of their mottos.
Ann,
I think you’re right, and being a loyalist makes him a pre-modernist.
Ann,
What would Carney and Shipman do for a living if he walked away from this thankless gig? Seriously?
He could walk into a tenured and/or endowed professorship at just about any high profile J-school or govt. or poli-sci program, or law school or what have you. Or be a consultant. He’d survive just fine.
I agree that Carney seems like too sincere a guy to keep taking it on the chin for his truly amoral boss. He is much more likable than his predecessor Robert Gibbs, though even Gibbs is more tolerable now that he’s an MSNBC talking
head.
I worked in PR for years and my very talented and successful mentor always maintained that effective PR must be grounded in truthful messages.
Surely by now Carney has figured out what he is dealing with in Obama and his fundamental lack of core principles. It would be great to see a high profile guy like Carney stand up and say, enough already. But I don’t expect to see that.
Ann,
You are whistling past a grave yard full of Zombies.
No one ever wants to think that people who look fine and should be trustworthy, are really evil. It’s hard to fathom.
But logic tells us, does it not, that evil people are everywhere, no? And they must look just like everyone else, right? They don’t look obvious like the movies. The movies do that because it’s a movie. In real life evil people look and act like Jay Carney.
I call as my one and only witness for that “bold” statement of mine the entire history of humanity up to the present day.
You always when a person is wrong. They lie. When a person does this for a living, it becomes their character and they are ipso facto a bad person.
Sorry. That’s how it works.
There is no Leftist who is not a post-mod. It is impossible to be Leftist and not be post-mod. The reason is not that Leftism leads to postmodernism. It is that postmodernism already is Leftism. It’s not a philosophical movement. It’s a way of being that has a philosophical aspect.
It has a goal in sight. The destruction of everything good and decent for the sake of, for them, some greater good. The greater good is actually this: They have a beautiful landscape called “human life on earth” in mind. They are they artist. You, and everyone else, are the material. They need you compliant. You will be compliant. You will pose for their picture and play your part or you will be….well we know what they do, don’t we? 100m dead last century.
What, they turned over e new leaf this century?
If it weren’t so dead serious I’d be laughing.
George Stephanopoulos lied for President Clinton for *years*, in the exact same capacity, and I’m told he (George) has a very bright future in television.
Ohhhh — you mean . . . ??
Carney reminds me of a boy I knew in the 3rd grade who threw like a girl, ran like a girl, and was always whining to the adults about how mean the other boys were. The other boys simply wanted nothing to do with him (he threw like a girl) and just wanted to play baseball without all the drama.
No disrespect to girls intended.
I guess Carney is in somewhat the same dilemma that many Germans and Russians were in during the formative years of the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. before the killing really started in earnest, but after it became obvious that they were collaborating with bad, and possibly evil, people. They too must have wondered, “oh, what will we do, how will we survive in the style we are accustomed, if we cease being loyal shills?”.
How many individuals have found themselves aligned with dishonest enterprises? How much sympathy do the get; deserve?
“deserve?”
Absolutely none.
To paraphrase, the damage has been done:
Well there’s blood in our veins
And we cry when in pain
We’re only human on the inside.
And if looks can deceive
Is it hard to believe
We’re only human on the inside?
We thought you’d come through,
We thought you’d come clean.
We thought you were the best thing
We had ever have seen.
But you go to extremes, you push us too far
Then you keep going ’til you break our hearts
Yeah, you break our hearts.
See we bleed and bruise, oh, but what’s it to you
We’re only human on the inside.
http://tinyurl.com/ka4h4pk
I don’t think Carney has any real problem lying. The lies of the administration, and even Obama the candidate, have been far too numerous regarding far too many different subjects for him to have any conscience issues with lying.
I think he is embarrassed at the fact that his team is lying so badly. He can’t believe that they have made such complete asses of themselves. Given all the effort the press makes to help his team, they don’t have to be very competent to stay out of trouble. They can lie all the time — just as long as they don’t go brain dead stupid.
But now they’ve gone brain dead stupid. And Carney is embarrassed at having been exposed as part of the 62 Mets of DC politics.
Stan:
That’s what I said about the elite liberals after the NSA-Merkel thing. They aren’t angry about the spying, they were angry Obama got caught. Getting caught embarrassed them because they support someone so inept.
I agree that Carney looks uncomfortable because this team is so amateurish.
Many of you give Carney too much credence He’s a running dog lackey that may be begining to realize he’s inside the bunker and the bombs are falling, the city is mostly rubble, and the electrical supply is spotty at best.
Parker,
Carney may remind you of a boy who threw a baseball like a girl but give the lad his credit, he did land a very hot Claire Shipman (who also has a high/profile career of her own). I’m sure that neither you nor the girly-man you knew in 3rd grade even know a female that hot.