The People v. Gibbs

Mike Gonzalez / August 05, 2009

In 1953, the German playwright Bertolt Brecht wrote of the Soviet suppression of a spring uprising in Berlin,

Would it not be easier,
In that case for the government,
To dissolve the people
And elect another?

Why quote a communist bootlicker and Stalin hagiographer best known for socialist realism, whatever that means? Because in that single moment of apparent weakness, he seems to have captured how government apparatchiks must think when caught in the headlights of popular discontent.

And yes, of course, the image of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs does come to mind.

The happy spokesman (he always inexplicably laughs when journalists begin to taunt him) said this when asked about the prairie fires engulfing Town Hall meetings this month: (more…)