THE PRESIDENT'S SAMURAI
LINDBERG, TOD
THE PRESIDENT’S SAMURAI by Tod Lindberg NO GOOD MORALITY TALE is complete these days without a wallow in the slough of victimhood, and the Monica Lewinsky affair is no exception. Those laying...
...And I believe him”) Emanuel...
...They did not create his lie, but they did propagate it without question...
...The Washington aristocracy is not hereditary, as was the landed aristocracy of feudal Japan...
...Sometimes even if you are a principal, you serve a bigger principal...
...In the case of the samurai sent out to spread the word, that means maintaining credibility...
...On the contrary...
...But it’s not merely funny...
...Because of this convention, one may spin extravagantly but still be credible, at least as a spinner...
...In other words, go find yourself another job...
...The president did have defenders who believed him...
...But every so often, and not infrequently in Bill Clinton’s Washington, something goes wrong...
...And, not to put too fine a point on it, if you are not a principal, you serve a principal...
...But still, he did it...
...It is the unique gift of this administration to take all the sins of Washington and magnify them a thousandfold...
...I first heard the term applied to the capital at a university roundtable discussion starring an important United States senator...
...Oh yes, and poor Hillary...
...As the week of The Speech unfolded, though, the emerging consensus of official Washington was that the true victims were the poor souls whom Bill Clinton had callously and calculatingly sent out for seven months to do his lying for him: the loyal aides and allies who had taken him at his word...
...In this case, the baron of the Oval Office sent his spinners forth to lie for the cause...
...But given Washington samurai culture, it was a natural thing...
...You are certainly permitted to believe your talking points...
...The answer is really very simple: It’s their job...
...Spinning is a time-honored Washington activity, and its premise is that there is some point of connection between the spin and the truth...
...And note well: Had he come clean about Monica Lewinsky at the outset in January, he would have sent the very same people forth to make the case for him, albeit with a different set of talking points...
...Your principal need not be perfect to warrant a vigorous defense...
...The closer to the Oval, the greater the sympathy: Poor Ann (“Sex is sex...
...It got a laugh...
...She’s a human being,” her spokesperson reassured us...
...It’s a funny line...
...Does anyone think they wouldn’t have gone...
...Those laying claim to the mantle of victim are many, ranging from President Clinton (in his blast against independent counsel Kenneth Starr when he was supposed to be apologizing) to Monica herself (who at last report was miffed that the Big He didn’t have so much as a kind word for her...
...It had been a hard day, he said...
...But you are not required to believe them...
...The generic Washington name for such a baron is a “principal...
...And your selfesteem, samurai self-esteem, comes not from speaking truthfully and thoughtfully but from speaking well in the service of your master...
...Is he right...
...That is samurai...
...Around the table we went, introducing ourselves and giving our professional affiliations...
...He should not let them be destroyed...
...This is a phenomenon that applies to both political parties...
...How can they just stare into the camera and ignore the questions and spout back the party line...
...In politics, after all, your principal’s enemy wants to defeat you...
...A sexual relationship means what it says, and that includes sex”) Lewis...
...No doubt there is a world of hurt out there...
...Moreover, there is usually a sense of higher purpose, namely, that advancing the interests of the principal serves some good end...
...And in exchange for the benefits of the patron who has you on retainer, you serve your principal faithfully and completely...
...The samurai culture that people join here, they join willingly...
...Of course this is Washington, not feudal Japan...
...Tod Lindberg is editorial-page editor of the Washington Times...
...But on the issues on which he has decided to take a stand, he is not to be contradicted...
...They are free to leave...
...This was surely a bad thing...
...You could say that the feudal baron owes a certain debt to his samurai...
...Spoken like a true samurai...
...What you need in order to go out in the world and spread the word is not some deeply felt certitude about the truth or efficaciousness of the message...
...On MSNBC the day after The Speech, he was asked about his feelings...
...Is he wrong...
...Poor Paul (“I believe him completely, and I know he’s telling the truth”) Begala...
...But before we get too caught up in a victimology that, by the time it’s finished, is going to assign martyr status to the Democratic party’s entire cadre, let’s not forget that this band of brothers voluntarily stepped out to propagate the president’s line...
...What’s noteworthy is how many put aside their feelings, even under such extreme circumstances as Bill Clinton’s demands create, and decide to stay...
...Oh, sure, there are plenty of topics on which the speaker is indifferent, or on which he wishes to encourage debate among his retinue...
...To understand what has been going on, one must consider an aspect of Washington culture generally regarded as a bit impolitic to get into...
...When it came the turn of a staffer traveling with the senator, he matter-of-factly gave his name, then said, “Samurai to Sen...
...But “people like me aren’t priorities here...
...And their willingness to do so was unpreceded by searching personal inquiry into the truth or falsity of the allegations against their president...
...Presumably, he did so in the hope that the lie would never be discovered...
...At least you will agree who won...
...How can they do it, these consultants—so people ask...
...If you don’t like the code of the samurai, perhaps you should pursue another career (such as journalism...
...And that is the culture of Samurai Washington...
...Clinton merely expected his staff to serve him...
...To cease to advance his positions is to forfeit one’s claim to his patronage...
...Wrong questions...
...He is right because he is the speaker...
...If your party wins a special election, it is surely an indicator of a great victory to come, whereas to your opposite number, the loss was purely a product of local factors with no lessons to teach about nationwide trends...
...Lanny Davis, that generally happy warrior, understands the situation well...
...How was she holding up...
...His samurai are not automatons...
...If you speak to someone in Newtland, for example—that network of staffs and organizations emanating from the House speaker’s office—you will get the Gingrich perspective on things...
...They had their jobs to do, they had their talking points, and they did their jobs...
...James Carville has noted that he owes everything he has to Bill Clinton, and that Bill Clinton’s partisan enemies are out to get him, so Carville is going to be a defender of Bill Clinton...
...That, after all, is their job...
...He should not send them off to battle for no reason...
...That list is a long one, starting with the first lady, continuing through the secretary of state and other cabinet officials, to Democratic members of Congress, on to senior and junior White House staff, and down to a small army of Democratic consultants, pollsters, chief cooks, and bottle-washers sent out to feed the all-Monica cable programming...
...For this, they deserve no pity...
...And usually he doesn’t...
...But our latter-day daimyos are no less the sole masters of their domain, from the White House to the House and Senate office buildings, from the party committees to the cabinet departments...
...Poor Rahm (“He said there was no sexual relationship...
...He also had a bunch more who, whether they believed him or not, put their mugs out in his behalf...
...What you need is your talking points...
Vol. 3 • August 1998 • No. 48
