Job of our 'leaders': Managing image or managing reality?

[DLnyc]

This is a question I would like the hear the press pose:

"Can you give an estimate, Mr. (shrub, dummy, dead-eye, choose one), of how much time you and your staff devote to managing your image, as compared to how much time you and your staff devote to actually thinking about reality and policy?"

Examples of shrub WH approach to problems:

1) Reality: Iraq is an escalating disaster and the public is starting to get pissed off about that.
Response: Let's convince people that things are great in Iraq and it's all the media's fault that it looks bad.

2) Reality: Thousands of people are dying in New Orleans.
Response: Let's spend the week putting together some really spiffy photo-ops so people will think we care.

3) Reality: The rising level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is leading us toward environmental disaster.
Response: Let's get some 'scientists' to say that's not true, and prevent NOAA and NASA from talking about it.

4) Reality: American jobs are going overseas.
Response: Let's convince people that they're better off losing their jobs so they can buy stuff cheaper with the money they don't have.

5) Reality: Al Qaeda has the capability and the desire to pull off a massive attack on American soil.
Response: Have * spend a month down in Texas cutting brush so people will get a nice fuzzy feeling seeing how relaxed he is.

6) Reality: Someone actually DID pull off a massive attack on American soil. Maybe we should change our procedures.
Response: Quick, let's do a photo-op, declare some wars, resist an inquiry, stonewall the inquiry when it happens anyway, then classify and rewrite most of the results.

7) Reality: The American public is beginning to see that the whole * administration is a bunch of lying, stealing, torturing, warmongering, drunken, two-faced, back-stabbing flim-flam artists and they're starting to get pissed off about that.
Response: . . . ? time for an exit strategery ??

(edit): Possible follow-up question: "Wouldn't it perhaps be more efficient to spend some time getting the reality and policies right in the first place, so that the image wouldn't need so much spinning?"

(edit 2) (typo)

[maddezmom]

1. excellent post

K&R :hi:

[DLnyc]

2. Thanks.

An example of the lengths they go to to spin stuff:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x199524

'"We call it 'influence,' " says Craig, whose business has 12 U.S. government contracts totaling more than $130 million.'

(WAPO on Lincoln Group . . . planted stories in Iraq)

[rodeodance]

3. he and dick and condi esp. should be engaged in some serious

diplomacy with other countries--some kind of summit to help Iraqi people instead of educating us!

[DLnyc]

4. Yes, they appear to spend almost no time working on a solution

and almost all of their time working on spinning. Although, if Democrats can make this an issue, I have no doubt they will start spending some time making it SEEM like they are spending some time on reality instead of image.

We could expect to see stuff like this:

"The media just doesn't report it when we think about reality. The media needs to start running some stories about all the great meetings we have talking about reality."

"The pResident today allowed selected press members to attend a 'reality meeting' of the cabinet. Insiders, who requested anonimity in exchange for discussing confidential plans, revealed that the pResident plans to give a series of talks this week highlighting the new slogan: "Reality: we care". In other news, Nancy Pelosi questioned the expenditure of $20 million of taxpayer money to finance the new campaign, claiming that the "Reality, we care" program is "basically political in nature".

"When Helen Thomas called the pResidents new program a "bunch of bullshit", Mr. Bush responded that her comment was "typical of the left-wing terrorist media, who don't understand that everything changed after 9/11".

etc.

[Gabi Hayes]

5. heh

Reality: The American public is beginning to see that the whole * administration is a bunch of lying, stealing, torturing, warmongering, drunken, two-faced, back-stabbing flim-flam artists and they're starting to get pissed off about that.
Response: . . . ? time for an exit strategery