The thing to remember about anyone now in government, political or civil service, is that everything that comes out of their mouth comes out for a purpose, to serve an agenda agreed on in that agency. I am constantly amazed how people will take government employees at face value and believe they are getting honest, candid information and views. The information may be true - it often is - but it has been selected and spun to put that agency and the government in the best possible light. The interpretations will be selective and limited to what makes the agency look best.
Many of Bush's current Cabinet officers strike me as empty mouthpieces, except in the most critical positions (State and Defense). But this is why government propaganda is usually so ham-handed, as I mentioned before.
And it's why I don't take anything said by a political appointee at face value. Those people were appointed due to their devotion to a particular candidate, party and cause, not because they were objectively the best talent available to do the job. Now that most administrations are very political and agenda-oriented, the current and former appointees are even less trustworthy as information sources.
The simple solution is not to believe any of them at first glance, from any administration going back to...well, they all had their axe to grind, even the JFK crowd that is still alive. They will talk about Camelot, Reagan appointees were almost all ardent conservative activists, the Clinton crowd has their own spin topped by spinmeister Carville, and so on.
Speaking to the press is a constant act of political manipulation for these people. I wish more voters recognized that. Instead most demonize anyone from the OTHERS and take what THEIR team says as gospel most of the time. |
