Dana Perino
President Barack Obama has tapped a former top aide of his predecessor George W. Bush to a key post on a board overseeing government-sponsored international broadcasting.
Dana Perino, the first Republican woman to serve as White House press secretary, was appointed late Wednesday to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
What can we say? She’s blonde, beautiful and in her former life as President Bush’s press babe secretary, Perino came across like a rose among the thorns.
Or, maybe it’s more accurate to say Perino came across as someone who was intelligent, disciplined and competent when everyone else at Bush & Co. delighted in being quite the opposite.
On the downside, we saw something a few months back to the effect ex-Bush press secretary Scott McClellan — who isn’t female, blonde and beautiful — was having difficulty landing a job. Unlike Perino, McClellan had the temerity to write a less-than-complimentary book about his former boss and White House experience.
We’d like to believe that neither McClellan’s determination to write about his time as Bush’s press secretary, nor the fact that although a decent-looking guy he’s no Tom Hanks, caused him to not be appointed to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
Yeah, we’d like to believe that. But somehow we just don’t.
In several years time there will be books written about the Obama administration by insiders, but as McClellan is a proven squealer, he has no chance working for, or being recommended by, any administration, for any job, ever.
Yes, one poor ex-Bushie has been saved from the dregs of unemployment, but there are so many more! Would you please send in your pledge today to help feed these poor, highly intelligent and not at all amoral crackpots?
Holte, alas, you’re probably right. The irony is that after his experience in the Bush White House, the real danger McClellan would pose to another administration is not that he would write another insider-tells-all book. The real danger is that, if asked to really mislead, or if he were to find out he had been set up to tell whoppers, McClellan might walk out. And that would set the media to speculating and digging to find out why he suddenly walked out.
Randal, Perino has a job with Fox, the Fox Biz channel, I think. As for Addington and some of the others, they should count themselves lucky they’re not working on a chain gang.
Wow, that’s amazing… she’s working on Fox as a full-time Obama basher and the administration offers her a job.
Maybe this is an effective new strategy. Hire your enemies.
What’s the expression Jim? Keep your friends close and your enemys closer.
Interesting choice for Obama. I don’t know whether to think this is bipartisanship on steroids, or whether Obama is practicing the philosophy of “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” as Demeur points out.
It’s true that Dana Perino was “a rose among the thorns” when she worked for Bush. Now if Obama offers Sean Hannity a post, I’ll definitely think he’s carrying this bipartisanship thing a little too far.
jim, I don’t watch Fox so I have no idea if Perino has done any overt Obama bashing. I can certainly understand how a person might expect that to be the case, though. I do vaguely recall that awhile back Perino said something to correct someone who was blowing smoke about how things were done in the Bush White House. And as best I can remember, what she said didn’t cast the Bush White House in the best light.
Demeur, I would agree if Perino was politically powerful. I don’t think she is.
Tom, the only conclusion I can draw, aside from the fact she’s pretty as hell and reasonably qualified, is that this is another demonstration of willingness to be bipartisan.
Oh, I just with Obama and the non-blue dog dems in congress would just tell the repubes and blue dogs to go f-themselves, already.
Dana Perino? She might be smart, I don’t care if she’s pretty, but this was just kind of stupid.