“Today is the day Obama settles all family business,” Allahpundit writes, in a lede that Obama would probably get a chuckle over, considering he’s stated that the Godfather is his favorite movie — and likely, next to Rules for Radicals, his how-to guide for navigating politics:
Gotta give The One his due. He may not know much, like how to keep sick veterans from dying while they wait endlessly for government health care, but he knows what the media likes. Having Carney step down today is a neat way to help crowd out some of the Shinseki news, as there’s nothing the press finds more interesting than the press. Well played, Mr. President. Tough break for conservative writers, though, in landing Josh Earnest as a replacement. There’s only one person in the White House’s mouthpiece food chain who might have provided us with as much blogworthy haplessness as Jay, and it ain’t Earnest. But then, realistically, Jen Psaki never stood a chance. You know why.
At the PJ Tatler, Bridget Johnson quotes an unintentionally hilarious line from Carney’s boss:
President Obama appeared at today’s daily briefing to announce that Jay Carney will be stepping down as press secretary.
“He comes to this place with a reporter’s perspective,” Obama said. “That’s why I think he will actually miss hanging out with you.”
To borrow one of Glenn Reynolds’ leitmotifs, the sad thing is that Carney’s C.V. while at Time magazine, written in-between collecting Soviet propaganda posters, actually sums up the definition of journalist as Democratic Operative with a Byline rather nicely. Carney’s moves from Time hack to first Biden and then Obama flack and now back to likely MSNBC or CNN hack are all lateral moves in the DNC-MSM steno pool.
Jim Treacher quips, “Q: How Many White House Press Secretaries Does It Take to Screw In a Lightbulb?”
“A: I would refer you to the Department of Energy for that.”
Obligatory Allahpundit-style exit quotes:
.@pfeiffer44 Go home, you’re drunk.
— Aaron Robinow (@aaronrobinow) May 30, 2014
By the way, despite the Godfather being a how-to guide for the Obama administration, I don’t believe this kiss is a Sicilian message.
Update: The paradoxically named Josh Earnest will be an equally able replacement for his appropriately named predecessor:
Josh is apparently the White House official who has told the White House press office not to release Benghazi night White House photos to me
— Sharyl Attkisson (@SharylAttkisson) May 30, 2014
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