Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
As I briefly noted over at the Corner today, State Department spokesman, and tweeter extraordinaire P. J. Crowley resigned this morning, and not against the Obama administration's or the State Department's wishes.
He called the treatment of Bradley Manning “ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid,” on Thursday, and faced criticism from Obama and the Defense Department since.
Should he have been made to resign? I don’t have a strong opinion about it, nor am I certain how to about forming one. I don't think what he said was at all beyond the pale morally, but it may well have compromised his ability to work with Defense Department officials cooperatively, and Crowley was evidently on his way out soonish anyways.
I do note that the comment was recorded by a blogger and posted here -- it spread like wildfire from there. 15 years ago, Crowley's brief aside never would have made it into the newspapers, hence never would have become a matter of public record, and he would still be Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs today.
Resignation may have been appropriate in this particular case. But it's unfortunate that modern saturation of the media, and its costless and quick retweeting and reblogging, is forcing public figures to become impossibly constrained in what they can say.
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May '10
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
Of course he had to resign. He's just a mouthpiece. He's not supposed to have opinions or make policy, especially in high-profile cases like the Manning situation.
Feb '11
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
Never a fan of P. J. Crowley. Always thought he was a bit snarky or smarmy. Take your pick. He had great difficulty producing a straight answer to even relatively simple questions. I realize as a press spokesperson he had to use discretion in his answers, and it could be argued that it's a fine line between discretion and obfuscation. I suspect Crowley had crossed others over time and had simply come to the end of his usefulness.
May '10
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
It's interesting you have that take Matthew because my reaction is exactly the opposite. How wonderful it is that elected officials and their political appointees now must stand up to the scrutiny of the population and face the consequences of their actions and words rather than be insulated in the cozy inside the beltway bubble.
Leaving aside that misspeaking is a fireable offense for a spokesman, I believe this is only a phase in the new media world. Ultimately rather than becoming more constrained I think public officials will begin to become more honest and straightforward with the public. Look at Chris Christie as an example. He is hardly constrained in what he says, but he is unafraid to take ownership of his statements and views and lets the chips fall where they may. Ultimately that is how all (successful) politicians will have to behave, because it will simply become too challenging to constantly manage and edit your speech.
I choose to believe that new media will lead to a more open and real discourse in time -- not the opposite.
Jun '10
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
I agree with Trace. I hope the new media continues to bring greater scrutiny to public officials and bureaucrats. Manning's treatment and Crowley's resignation are a result of the same type of snarkiness. It was Manning's own "joke" about committing suicide that landed him in isolation and on suicide watch. Perhaps his discomfort will remind him of all the lives he put in jeopardy by leaking sensitive material to Wikileaks. However, I doubt a man who so shamelessly violated his oath to defend this country is capable of that level of introspection.
Dec '10
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
P.J. Crowley is entitled to his own opinion, but it ends where he provided color commentary on the Defense Department’s handling of Pfc. Manning. How can he possibly make judgments over a case that he does not have complete and total access to the information? His comments only serve to heighten the sense of disunity and disconnect within the Obama administration. This is another example of a bureaucrat trying to be clever and ending up being foisted on his own petard.
Jan '11
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
Trace Urdan:
Leaving aside that misspeaking is a fireable offense for a spokesman...
That's a large thing to leave aside ("Well yes, Ron Schiller did say that. But, on balance, we're pleased with his performance in the sting video."). If you're a hired flunky, you're job is to tow the line.
Regardless, I'm glad Crowley spoke up and I wish others would also risk being fired for it. I don't for a second buy the military's claim that Manning's 23-hour-a-day isolation is done for his good. I wouldn't be comfortable with this treatment if he had been convicted, and I'm certainly not comfortable with it as for someone pre-trial.
Jan '11
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
Reason's Radley Balko summed it up well:
I don’t think Manning is the hero some have made him out to be. If he had leaked information to blow the whistle on some specific government wrongdoing, I’d be right there with the people celebrating him. But this seems more like a vindictive, reckless act undertaken by a guy who by all appearances had a grudge to bear... He did break the law, and because what he did was more of a petulant information dump than genuine whistle-blowing, I’m fine with him being prosecuted for the laws he broke.
...The government’s treatment of Manning is absolutely shameful. But it’s also revealing. Murder a government official, bomb a federal building with the aim of starting a violent revolution, covertly sell off national security secrets to America’s primary global enemy—for all of these acts you’ll be treated like a conventional criminal. Which is to say mostly humanely, with the same constitutional protections as those accused of less heinous crimes. (Unless they tag you as a terrorist.)
Jul '10
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
Tom Meyer
Regardless, I'm glad Crowley spoke up and I wish others would also risk being fired for it. I don't for a second buy the military's claim that Manning's 23-hour-a-day isolation is done for his good. I
Crowley was in a snit about a boyfriend so he betrayed the country. People who made the mistake of confiding in our diplomats have died in Africa and who knows where else. Thousands of people are in prison in this country with only an hour in 24 out of their cell, some by their own choice. This doesn't seem particularly onerous to me. If a man says it would be easy to hang himself with the elastic in his own underwear, take him at his word and give him something diaphanous to put on, which I gather is now the case. He probably thinks he looks good in it. As for Crowley, the man's fairly constant snottiness was reason alone to fire him.
Jan '11
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
Your Grace
Crowley was in a snit about a boyfriend so he betrayed the country. People who made the mistake of confiding in our diplomats have died in Africa and who knows where else. Thousands of people are in prison in this country with only an hour in 24 out of their cell, some by their own choice. This doesn't seem particularly onerous to me. If a man says it would be easy to hang himself with the elastic in his own underwear, take him at his word and give him something diaphanous to put on, which I gather is now the case. He probably thinks he looks good in it. As for Crowley, the man's fairly constant snottiness was reason alone to fire him. · Mar 14 at 9:54am
Yeah. Why don't we just have the police summarily execute people they arrest, while we're at it? I mean, they probably deserve it.
Jul '10
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
Tom Meyer
Your Grace
Crowley was in a snit about a boyfriend so he betrayed the country. People who made the mistake of confiding in our diplomats have died in Africa and who knows where else. Thousands of people are in prison in this country with only an hour in 24 out of their cell, some by their own choice. This doesn't seem particularly onerous to me. If a man says it would be easy to hang himself with the elastic in his own underwear, take him at his word and give him something diaphanous to put on, which I gather is now the case. He probably thinks he looks good in it. As for Crowley, the man's fairly constant snottiness was reason alone to fire him. · Mar 14 at 9:54am
Yeah. Why don't we just have the police summarily execute people they arrest, while we're at it? I mean, they probably deserve it. · Mar 14 at 11:47am
That straw man is down for the count. Glass jaws, some of them.
Re: Should Crowley Have Been Ousted?
Matthew, I agree with your broader point about the new media's tendency to keep people in power from saying anything remotely edgy (read: interesting). It's a real danger.
No such concern with Crowley, however. As irritating as it is, the spokesman's job begins and ends with staying on message. It's in many respects thankless (it's a role I'd never want -- in fact, one I've turned down before). But that's the gig.
Crowley's remarks were dumb on the merits, but even if they were brilliant he still would have been driving outside of his lane.