Three Stooges Man the White House Switchboard

Okay, now I'm worried. Consider this exchange between White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and a reporter, at a press conference last Thursday.

Q Is it clear why the President was unable to reach her yesterday? Apparently he tried and -- she's been all over TV -- why wasn't she reachable?

MR. GIBBS: It may have been because she was all over TV. The White House operator tried on at least two occasions last night and was both unable to reach her and unable to leave a voicemail.

Are you worried yet? If not you should be. The New York Times has what might be the most devastating piece I have yet seen on the Obama Administration, and it is largely about Secretary Gibbs thirty-five word response.

[T]he White House has 14 operators, and fields about 4,000 calls a day during the week, and about 2,500 a day on the weekend. The operators serve as part secretary, part diplomat, part gatekeeper (screening prank calls, among other things), and part detective. And, of course, they can usually get just about anyone on the line.

"I could pick up the phone and say, 'God, I don't remember this guy's name, but he was here at the White House, he's in Hollywood and he works on such and such and he came to see the president one time,' and they'd come back with him on the phone for you," said Gerald Rafshoon, President Jimmy Carter's communications director. "They could find anybody, and they were so great to work with."

Mr. Kennedy seemed particularly fond of the operators, and often showed off their skills as a parlor trick. Once, he ordered them to track down a staff member who, unknown to them, was standing next to him in the Oval Office. They found him minutes later.

The article also describes how the White House Switchboard managed to get Truman Capote on the line for JFK. Capote had an unlisted number and was staying with a friend who also had an unlisted number. It took them thirty minutes.

There are obvious reasons why the President needs such an office as this. He needs to be able to reach anyone at a moment's notice in a crisis. Fifty years later, we presumably have much more sophisticated technologies. And yet…

According to Gibbs, the President tried to reach Ms. Sherrod the previous night. The press conference was at 1pm in the afternoon and the best switchboard in the world still hadn't reached her. Even if you rule out bed time, that's gotta be close to 10 hours. But wait! It gets better.

An especially surreal moment occurred at a briefing Wednesday, when Ms. Sherrod watched, via a split screen on CNN, as Mr. Gibbs chronicled Mr. Vilsack's struggles to get in touch with her.

"Apparently, she's watching this briefing, Shirley Sherrod, on CNN right now," said Jake Tapper of ABC, to the amusement of the press corps. "Is there anything you want to say to her?"

Kennedy's switchboard could find someone standing right next to the President in minutes. Obama's people can't find someone who is on cable television at the same time as their own press secretary? CNN knew where she was. Jake Trapper of ABC, sitting in front of Gibbs in the James S. Brady Briefing Room, knew where she was. Sherrod knew where Gibbs was. The White House was clueless.

Now there are two possible explanations for this. According to the NYTs article, several historians find Gibbs story unbelievable. Once again the Administration was telling a lie. That looks most likely to me. It was an especially incompetent lie, though, as it made the Administration look especially incompetent.

The other explanation is that this Administration couldn't find its own ass if both hands were duct taped to it. I was I was certain that that is not true.

Comments

[BillW]

Don't be so quick to dismiss possible explanation #2 KB. I would have a look in the White House dumpster to see if I can find any empty duct tape spools before I wrote off that possibility completely.

[William]

Both #1 & #2, they're not mutually exclusive positions - lol

[KB]

BillW and William: right and right. I rather doubt that the White House really asked the switchboard folks to find Ms. Sherrod. I am guessing that most of the people who man, excuse me, people the boards are veterans, and I am guessing that they could get Jimmy Hoffa on the phone if the President wanted to talk to him. Nonetheless, as I have argued, this story demonstrates incompetence.