Some say (with justice) that Tim Muris is going to get out of the Bush administration with his reputation intact. Others say that Mark McClellan is going to get out of the Bush administration with his reputation intact. Perhaps they are right. Now comes Matthew Yglesias to say that Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson is going to get out of the Bush administration with his reputation enhanced. I'm not so sure:
Matthew Yglesias: May 02, 2004 - May 08, 2004 Archives: Reputation: Brad Delong has remarked that "No one, absolutely no one, is getting out of this administration with even the shreds of a reputation." I disagree. Presidential speechwriter Michael Gerson deserves to have an extremely good reputation. How else to explain remarks like this from Robert Kagan in an otherwise sensible column:
That is what President Bush has been saying all along. But Bush himself is the great mystery in this mounting debacle. His commitment to stay the course in Iraq seems utterly genuine. Yet he continues to tolerate policymakers, military advisers and a dysfunctional policymaking apparatus that are making the achievement of his goals less and less likely.
What "seems utterly genuine" about it, then? Why, nothing at all. [Bush] just has a good speechwriter.
You see, it all hinges on the correct answer to the question: "What is a good speechwriter?" Is a good speechwriter somebody who puts words into the president's mouth that make him or her appear to be wise and thoughtful, a bold leader, a determined patriot, compassionate, and a firm hand upon the tiller of the state? Or is a good speechwriter somebody who puts words into the president's mouth that communicate what the president thinks and what presidential policies really are? Is a good speechwriter somebody who approaches the job as if it were a zero-sum game, in which for the president to win the public must lose--must be misinformed and deluded? Or is a good speechwriter somebody who approaches the job as a task of communication and enlightenment?
To me, it is clear that the second of these is the proper definition of "good speechwriter": for no one seeks to do evil--and to misinform and delude is to do evil--knowingly, and anybody who is ignorant about the nature of the good cannot successfully master their craft.
Think of it this way: Was Peggy Noonan a good speechwriter? Her "read my lips, no new taxes" line perhaps increased George H.W. Bush's edge in the 1988 presidential election by a percentage point. But it also destroyed George H.W. Bush's administration. Did he get value for the money he paid her? Did we get value for the money he paid her?
Posted by DeLong at May 2, 2004 11:03 AM | TrackBack | | Other weblogs commenting on this postAh. The good speech writer and the Good speech writer. One has to remember that Y is one of those damned Philosophy majors who knows how to pronounce Socrates ( unlike my Electrical Engineering prof who thought it rhymed with crates).
After NPR's clip of Bush's "I don't like it one little bit." today, there must be tons of us wishing for better speech writers. Any kind.
And better speakers. Why wasn't McClellan given this task? Show some mercy for your listeners.
The good news? I call to mind the $200M campagn fund and think what a huge chunk of that just went down the toilet with that clip. This was the upside for me.
Who got out of the Clinton administration with their reputation intact? No one that I can think of.
Posted by: Lee on May 2, 2004 01:24 PMRubin, Albright, Clark, Greenspan, Reich, Richardson, Delong, Schmidt
Koop got out OK, and then sunk his name by sticking .com on the end of it. Not Clinton's fault.
Posted by: Stirling Newberry on May 2, 2004 01:27 PMWhen I held the position of the Voice of Authority, I was merely a flack, and not responsible for any disinformation. However, now as the Source of All Knowledge, I am concerned with setting high level policy and cannot answer for operational screw ups
Posted by: Eli Rabett on May 2, 2004 01:38 PMOh come on -- "no one seeks to do evil--and to misinform and delude is to do evil--knowingly" -- how terminally naive can you get? Of course people do evil knowingly. Every Republican speechwriter does evil knowingly. You may be right that their efforts are in the long term counterproductive because they are evil, but that doesn't mean that they aren't wholeheartedly attempting to do evil.
Bush is evil, his speechwriters are evil, the "adult Republicans" who you keep calling on to intervene are evil, and none of this is going to go away if, as you keep suggesting, some Bush administration functionaries are fired, impeached, or otherwise replaced by other functionaries. These people can only preserve their social position at the cost of the blood of others, and nothing is going to change that.
Posted by: Rich Puchalsky on May 2, 2004 02:06 PMOn the issue of doing evil, lots of people do evil for personal gain. The only thing sadder than the fact that everyone has a price is the fact that the price is generally low.
Posted by: MDtoMN on May 2, 2004 02:23 PMThey are all evil? All? Not merely wrong, or misguided? That sort of fundamentalist attitude is, in my opinion, much of what led so many rightish Democrats to bail out and go Republican after the 1994 congressional elections. Same thing seems to be happening in the Repbulican party, now with regards to its' moderates.
Posted by: Steven Rogers on May 2, 2004 02:54 PM"What Then, O Socrates, Is a Good Speechwriter?"
"None, friend Gorgias. None."
Posted by: Keith M Ellis on May 2, 2004 03:10 PMBrad you are attempting to mislead us with an equivocation between the meanings of "good" and Good" as calmo argued. Reminds me of the time (Spring 1982)when you were enthusiastic about Alasdair MacIntryre.
"no one seeks to do evil--and to misinform and delude is to do evil--knowingly,"
First I would say it is not always evil to misinform and delude. It can be legally and morally obligatory for a defence attorney.
I would agree with Rich Puchalsky that by your definition all Republican speach writers are evil. I would add that so are all Democrat speach writers (and don't even get me started about the unprincipled traitors who have serve politicians of both parties).
"and anybody who is ignorant about the nature of the good cannot successfully master their craft."
Ok this is Plato flaking for Socrates, not Brad expressing himself. What if the craft is hit man or Torturer ?
On Noonan, I think the problem is that she was helping GHW Bush commit to a bad policy. If she had given him the line given by David Cutler (assist to Lary Katz) to Larry Summers "read my lips no new tax shelters" it would have been fine.
By the way, Lee, count 3 more who got out with their reputations intact to put it mildly.
Hope someone reads this far because the gOOd part on GooD and good is about to come.
About a decade ago, I told my wife Elisabetta Addis (the one with the topological rabbit)
"Look my first grey hair"
She said "Robert you have a very bad mirror and a very good wife."
Posted by: Robert Waldmann on May 2, 2004 06:10 PMIn Phaedrus isn't it explained that the better sophist (= lawyer) is the one who can win the hard cases -- i.e., the one who can convict the innocent and get the guilty off scot-free? An innocent defendant is no fun -- sort of a gimme.
Posted by: Zizka on May 2, 2004 06:41 PM"An innocent defendent is no fun" ?
An innocent defendent in Gitmo is a non-starter.
We should add Browner to Stirling's list.
Posted by: bakho on May 2, 2004 07:45 PMI thought I heard several sources that Mr. Bush activly edited his speechs, and had frequent meets before a speech so that his speech reflected his thoughts, and made him sound intellegent. I recall an NPR interview with one of his early speech writers that had left the administration and he implied that speech writing was micromanaged by Bush. I could be wrong...
Posted by: HinderLands on May 2, 2004 08:23 PMI would delete McClellan from the list of the Bush appointees with an intact reputation, given nonsense he has promoted with regard to the safety of importing Canadian prescription drugs.
Posted by: Vadranor on May 2, 2004 08:24 PMI'm being swallowed by a boa-constrictor,
And I don't like it one little bit
http://www.grandfolkies.com/boa1.htm
I think that Ari Fleischer has a great career ahead of him in the PR industry...
Posted by: non economist on May 2, 2004 09:46 PM
BDL: "Think of it this way: Was Peggy Noonan a good speechwriter? Her "read my lips, no new taxes" line perhaps increased George H.W. Bush's edge in the 1988 presidential election by a percentage point. But it also destroyed George H.W. Bush's administration. Did he get value for the money he paid her? Did we get value for the money he paid her?"
I'd love to be able to understand the underlying meta-point that undoubtedly lurks (in the answers to those last two questions), but taking this at face value, well, maybe Noonan actually did have the requisite knowledge and foreknowledge to see what she was getting her boss into, and did it anyway, because she really (in her heart of hearts) didn't think of GHWB as a two-term class (like, say, RR) president....
Even in 2001, I already knew well enough not to believe a word from this administration. But I was fascinated by Ari Fleischer. He was the kind of liar Oscar Wilde admired.
Posted by: JackM on May 3, 2004 05:20 AM"Did we get value for the money he paid her?"
Well, since George I didn't get a second term, I would definitely say yes.
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