1. To Rahmbo and Gibbsy: Whoever is prepping the President for his news conferences and interviews, please get him to shorten his answers and know when he's stepping on his lede. At last Wednesday's prime-time news conference, he held forth for 57 minutes, often giving essay-length answers to an audience with a 7-second attention span (5 seconds if we're talking just about the media). Then, as if to say "I can expound on every subject whether or not I know the facts," he blew whatever headline would have come out of the news conference by stepping into the Henry Louis Gates non-break-in story. Had he just stopped after saying, "I don't know all the facts, so I can't really comment," there would have been no 72 hours of media froofery effectively burying his push back on health care reform and the economy. Suggestion: Less is often more.
2. In re 1, above: Once you have stepped in it, please stop "recalibrating" your remarks, thereby continuing to step in it and prolong the froofery already taking over the media. For example, don't massage an earlier information-free response with more judgments and wordsmithing (eg., both sides "overreacted"). This keeps the wingnut wurlitzer humming along and its attendant "mainstream media" taking its cues from the likes of Drudge and Limpballs.
Suggestion: If you don't know when to shut up, at least don't add more nuances for the media birdbrains to peck at for 72 more hours.
3. Note to self: Increase bran in diet.
Thank you!
