Spun Out

White House Press Secretary Shows Little Regard for Truth

From the dawn of their species, White House press secretaries have sought to cast their boss in a positive light. Perhaps not since Ron Zeigler made inoperative statements on behalf of Richard Nixon, however, has a press secretary exhibited such a brazen and cavalier disregard for the facts.

Before President Bush rode a Navy jet onto the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, press secretary Ari Fleischer informed the world, inaccurately, that the carrier would be hundreds of miles offshore. That distance over water, Fleischer suggested, would be too long for the President to safely make the hop in a slower, cheaper helicopter with limited range.

As President Bush flew on Air Force One from Washington toward California for his rendezvous with the Navy Viking jet, Fleischer claimed, implausibly, that he had no idea how far offshore the carrier was steaming and could not get the answer.

At the time Bush landed on the carrier and prepared to address the nation, the ship was less than 40 miles from shore. White House officials advised the press and television networks, falsely, that the carrier was about 100 miles offshore. The officials knew the truth, because they manipulated the television camera angles for fear the coastline might be visible.

Later, when late-night comedians began to ridicule the President's exploits in naval aviation, and some reporters and commentators questioned the cost and prudence of the exercise, Fleischer said the distance never mattered, that the President wanted to take the jet no matter what. As usual, Fleischer did not satisfactorily explain why he and his associates repeatedly misled the public earlier.

President Bush is Commander-in-Chief and has the power to visit military units and commandeer warplanes as he pleases. Bush says he enjoyed the carrier experience, was glad he made the trip, and had no regrets.

Given the President's confidence and ease with his decision, what motive would the President's aides have to misrepresent the facts?

Perhaps Fleischer and other aides spin stories out of a sense of duty and a belief that the unadorned facts do not serve this administration well. Perhaps they do so out of habit, a habit they find hard to break.

If Fleischer and other White House officials want to serve this administration best, they should just answer questions from the public and press to the best of their ability, admit ignorance or decline to comment. The tendency of political press aides to spin the facts has devolved so far it has spun out.