You may heard have that the State Department's Philippe Reines sent off an email with profanity to a member of the press as he responded to questions to the member of the media about the State Department's handling of the Libya crisis. Some are jumping him for losing his temper. Give Philippe a break. I know Philippe. He works hard for the American people. He is a good guy. He just got angry.
Don't forget -- these are very, very difficult times for people at the State Department for many reasons, including that many of them knew the ambassador who was murdered and feel a huge loss beyond what we may realize.
Yes, Philippe used profanity in responding to the media but who hasn't used profanity in his or her life, right? And if you haven't used it, and especially with the media, you might have thought about using it, right?
Don't forget: the shoe was on the other foot recently. Governor Mitt Romney's traveling press secretary Rick Gorka lost his temper and cursed out the media in Poland. Big deal --who cares that Rick Gorka lost his temper and cursed out the media (the media can be annoying...)?
So Rick lost his temper. And yes, so did Philippe. So what. It happens. People get angry. You might get angry. I do.
Bottom line -- Philippe works hard (and so does Rick). They both are probably exhausted with no sleep and much pressure. So, can we move on?
Tom Engelhardt: Obama Against the World
Reines was not upset about the journal, that is a distraction. He was upset becasue Hillary Rodham Clinton is vulerable to scrutiny and criticism for irresponsilby not providing adequate security for an ambassador who clearly felt in danger.
Reines represents the downside of having an ambitous, image sensitive, POLITIICIAN as Secretary of State rather than a seasoned diplomat. He is Hillary's "image and fix it man", whose primary qualfiication is intense loyalty, not professionalism, integrity, or competence, and it shows.
his e-mail, while inmprudent, it was understandable given the circumstance at the time and certainly forgivable.
Your argument might have legs if it weren't for the likes of John Bolton appointed as U.N. Ambassador and the cadre of political appointees from the Bush "43" Administration whose demeanor fell short of the ideal diplomatic conduct.
As usual, Greta tries to come off as moderate to give republicans cover. You do realize that Gorka was a press secretary, whose primary job was to DEAL with the media, right? Of course you do.
Moreover, the place the anger came from was totally different. Conservatives were gitty that one of their own would curse out members of the MSM and call out their so called liberal bias (I guess questions now have a liberal bias as well).
Btw, rational people don't get mad at institutions like the media and react with profanity, that's solely a trait of the paranoid mind.
His response wasn't a fit of pique. He diverted attention away from an egregious failure by a flurry of pointless obscenity. Sorry, Ms. Van Susteran you're being gamed.
If that's all that Pilippe Reines and Rick Gorka are accused of then they're probably both better at keeping the lid on than I am under that kind of stress.
Kudos to Greta Van Susterm for framing this correctly.
Thank you for being a grown up. A rarity here.
If you can't leave Fox, then denounce it. It's not just a job. It's dishonest propaganda designed to further a specific agenda here in the US that is anathema to what our country represented until Bush the W.
You in particular, paling around with Sarah like she wasn't way out of line and as though she had something worth while to say.
You know what? Nevermind.
What you said today. Great. Thanks.
Remember it's your choice, honesty or go back to Fox.