Scaramucci Scaramouche
One can’t help but make the comparison.
Donald Trump, you’ve got to be kidding! This guy should be selling shoes on Madison Avenue or junk bonds on Wall Street, not communicating your presidency and policies to America and the world. Hmmm ...or maybe he’s just the right man for that job for you. Why break your personnel lucky streak. He does seem to fit the mold.
Sean Spicer was doing a good job, but most important, given the impossible job he had as flack for you, he, in hindsight, had an easy rapport with the press and news media, and with Americans. He was easy to look at. He held up well.
Until he couldn’t hold up any more.
Spicer took Melissa McCarthy’s SNL impersonations of him in stride, admitting that they were for the most part, funny. And they were. Spicer had an easy, almost comical country-boy face and look about him. When he smiled, you smiled.
Scaramucci looks oddly menacing, given the fact that Scaramouche was a clown and jester in Italian theatre. Scaramuccia means “little skirmisher.” Perfect. When he smiles, you cringe. 'Saturday Night Live' will crucify him.
I mean, c’mon man! ..just look at him ...his hand gestures, facial expressions, his thin veneer of overbearing youthful overconfidence. You can see right through it. He seems uncomfortable in his own skin. Everything about him says amateur. Kind of creepy. The slick New York City imagery will not connect with Trump’s base supporters, nor with the news media, nor with his colleagues at the White House, nor with we Americans.
The kid is way out of his league, in way over his head.
He embarrassed himself on ‘Face The Nation‘ Sunday morning, almost like a deer-in-the-headlights, which doesn’t look good on someone who’s trying to embolden himself and “take charge.” He seems to be faking his way through on Trump’s say-so recommendation. Host John Dickerson had him on the ropes with the first question. The kid fought back with ridiculous rhetoric spiked with impromptu sophomoric phrases like “I love the president” and “he’ll knock your sox off.”
His faux pas comment about interim Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders‘ television appearance regarding her hair and makeup was about as rude and kitschy as blowing a kiss to the media press corps from the briefing room podium.
But it’s just like Trump to pick a failing game show host and reality TV star lookalike. He always goes for the kiss-ass and sex appeal, like the quintessential ad man or television executive. Scaramucci will be a trophy staff bookend to Kellyanne Conway and just as useless, if not as damaging.
I wonder who will fail or be fired first, Scaramucci or Trump? I’m sure Las Vegas has odds on it.
Scaramoucci is right in line with Kushner, Manafort and Don Trump, Jr. regarding perceived integrity. Scaramoucci says he will not tolerate White House ”leakers” but has already come under scrutiny for being a leaker himself. He has admittedly deleted old tweets. Here we go again! The kid does not exude confidence, credibility and honesty in this high profile position that demands it, much like most of the people Trump surrounds himself with.
I know it’s not fair to be so hard on Scaramucci without giving him a chance to prove himself. I don’t mean to profile, but the name and the slick demeanor are worth noting and beg commentary. I don’t mean to be mean spirited either, and I don’t know about you folks, but I’ve had enough already, and seen enough. And I see this one coming from a mile way. I’d love nothing more than to be wrong about this, and be written off as a cranky, opinionated old man, but this looks like another losing proposition to me. Another Trump con job, another waste of my time, an insult to my sensibilities, and to America’s credibility.
It’s embarrassing. I’m not embarrassed for them, I’m embarrassed for us.
Being the White House Press Secretary is not an easy job. It’s the most demanding, high profile job in the world. There have been some great ones in the past, and some short-lived ones. Ari Fleischer was one of my favorites. He was press secretary for President George W. Bush. He was the right man for the job, with the right measure of the necessary skills required. Knowledgeable, informed, strong, fair, sense of humor (real important), humble when required, forceful when needed. Not intimidating looking (being bald helped, but I think he was less bald when he started the job), not slick but sharp (there’s a difference), comfortable in his skin. Fleicher had a good rapport with everyone he worked with, both a good personal and professional relationship, and has become an in-demand pundit regarding the shenanigans surrounding this Trump presidency.
Some other White House Press Secretaries that come to mind are Obama’s Robert Gibbs, Jay Carney, and Josh Earnest (what a name or a press secretary!), Dana Perino and Tony Snow, who also served for George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton’s De De Myers. They all served their time and did a good job, and maybe Anthony Scaramucci will too.
But I doubt it. Instinct tells me no. He’s short-lived. Instinct also tells me we’ll be calling him “Tony” soon because he likes the informality. It’s a tool to get under your skin.
Mr. Slick, Mr. Clean ...just give it to us straight. Where’s Mr. Roberts when we need him!?
John Kushma is a communication consultant and lives in Logan, Utah.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-george-kushma-379a5762
http://newsbout.com/a/John+Kushma
