'Poor John Bryson!' Even the Papers of Record Didn't Find Him Notable
“Poor John Bryson!” exclaimed the "Reliable Source" gossips at The Washington Post on Wednesday. “Be honest: How many of you could have coughed up the name of the commerce secretary last week, even if a Jeopardy Daily Double were on the line?” (Especially, you, Chris Matthews.)
Even the newspapers ignored him: “In the year since he was nominated for the job by President Obama, Bryson had never once made it onto the front page of the Washington Post, New York Times or Wall Street Journal — until, of course, the bizarre series of traffic accidents in southern California Saturday that prompted him to take a medical leave.” Or as Jim Geraghty of National Review tweeted on Monday, “How is it that 4 years into economic hard times, most of us news junkies have no idea who the Commerce Secretary is?”
As Geraghty implied, the media prominence of a cabinet official is in part something the White House decides -- and Obama really doesn't seem to want any of his Cabinet officials to be a fraction as prominent as he is. That's not to say Commerce secretaries are normally household names.
Gossips Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinger added:
Bryson, 68, had what officials described as a seizure while driving his own car, alone. No security? Turns out that’s how commerce secretaries roll when traveling on personal business, we’re told.
White House officials said they were only told about the accidents a day after they happened, and the president said he only learned about it Monday morning. Face it: If this had been, say, Tim Geithner, there’d have been a 3 a.m. phone call and an instant cable-news stakeout.
Bryson had been in California to deliver the commencement address Thursday at Pasadena Polytechnic School, which his four children attended. Some students and parents who saw Bryson's commencement speech told the Los Angeles Times he stumbled over some words, mispronounced others and appeared to lose his place several times.
The immediate (and indefinite) medical leave would seem like a most callous form of news management, making a Washington cynic wonder whether Bryson will return before the election. He certainly won't return until the local legal system clears up his record. Will the news media's previous lack of curiosity about Bryson now continue?
- Tim Graham's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
Commerce?
Submitted by Franksam on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 6:52am.
Private Commerce is doing fine.
I thought similarly....
Submitted by motherbelt on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 7:00am.
Obviously they didn't need him to shore up anything or flog their plans.
Perhaps
Submitted by Cappmann1962 on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 7:36am.
No one knew who he was because he's the smartest of Obambi's appointees. The economy sucks, the administration is one of the most corrupy and inept in history, and Obambi and his surrogates are self-destructing. What does the commerce secretary do with the economy tanking - he keeps out of sight. No press conferences, no front page news. When Obambi and crew are relegated to history, he can show his face in public with no one the wiser...
I heard it was a hit and run?
Submitted by Indie Dude on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 7:40am.
Then I heard he had a seizure? So was it seizure. run and hit, or hit. seizure, run? Or was it hit, run. and then seizure?
Pretty sure the seizure happened
Submitted by Boudin on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 7:52am.
After he was caught
You're asking us?
Submitted by CobraMan on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 10:12am.
"How is it that 4 years into economic hard times, most of us news junkies have no idea who the Commerce Secretary is?"
Maybe it's because that there are so many departments, and so many Secretaries which head them, that it is difficult, if not impossible, for anyone to remember who any of them are. But, of course, that's why we have the "Fourth Estate," the news media itself. You are the ones who are supposed to inform us of things like that.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
How odd
Submitted by c5then on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 11:03am.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate commerce between the various States. So the Commerce Departement is needed and a valid Cabinet position. However the Department of Labor is far more influential and important, especially in this administration, yet the Constitution says nothing about the government having any power or authority over labor.
Why don't we have a Bureau of Labor Statistics that is simply part of the Department of Commerce?
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Departments of Commerce and Labor
Submitted by Unsane on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 11:34am.
Apparently we needed neither the Commerce or Labor Departments until 1903.
The Department of Commerce and Labor was created by an act of Congress on February 14, 1903, and was divided by Congress on March 4, 1913 (when? during the Taft or Wilson administrations? That was the day Wilson was inaugurated) into two separate departments.
Source: 2012 World Almanac and Book of Facts
I don't know why either is needed. Did you know that 80% of the Commerce Department consists of NOAA?
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
No Cabinet in the Constitution
Submitted by Unsane on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 11:40am.
...and it should be noted that the Constitution says nothing about a Cabinet either. Not even the four original Cabinet positions - AG, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense (War before 1947) and Secretary of the Treasury - are mentioned there. All were created by acts of Congress, not the Constitution.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
I get all that...
Submitted by c5then on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 12:00pm.
My point is that why do we tollerate cabinet positions and government entities for things that are not within the authority of the Federal Government.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Laziness
Submitted by Unsane on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 12:28pm.
The same thing that fuels the desire for term limits:
Laziness.
Sure, those departments have existed since 1903. Why have they continued to exist? People are too lazy to ask the question "do we NEED this?" and if the answer is no, then push Congress to eliminate the position/department.
Laziness is the greatest danger to the republic, not "special interests", not "career politicians". Laziness.
"CONSUMED DEMOCRACY RETURNS A SOCIALIST REGIME" - Slayer, "Fictional Reality", from Divine Intervention (1994)
Tim Graham: Give me a break!
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 11:54am.
- “Bryson, 68, had what officials described as a seizure while driving his own car, alone. No security? Turns out that’s how commerce secretaries roll when traveling on personal business, we’re told.”
Shame on you!
Here I was working hard on what could have been a ‘Great Conspiracy Theory’ about how the Commerce Secretary was actually secretly meeting with PRC agents and that’s why he had no security or chauffer… the words “Plausible Deniability” come to mind…
…And then you come along and destroy all my hard work with a most reasonable explanation of the facts (i.e.: “giving a graduation address” & “travel under personal business”)… Well, I hope you’re happy now, Mr. Graham!
Evidently, you have no concept of how hard it is to develop a conspiracy theory… one that is both reasonable and will stand the test of time.
You sir, are too hung-up on FACTS… I am appalled!
Anyway… “Thanks for your post, it cleared up the questions I had about the incident.
Best wishes,
- Grump :o)
Grump~
Submitted by GG_NB on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 1:51pm.
I warned you not to continue developing your driving-his-own-car conspiracy theory!
Tee hee. ;)
I didn't link my "Told Ya So" dance video because I like you so much...AND that would be really obnoxious! AND ya know I'm just teasing ya. ;)
"If not us, who? If not now, when?"
~Ronald Reagan
Tim perhaps the MSM stopped covering Commerce Dept. . Ron Brown
Submitted by Gary Hall on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 1:09pm.
Enron and Ron Brown (Sec. of Commerce Dep't under Clinton) come to mind - remember? Of course you do.
The media only ever wanted to blame everything Enron, on President George W Bush (although they were usually quick to paint the elder Bush into the story as well).
But, it was always the Ron Brown/Clinton connection to Enron that the national MSM wanted to keep out of the paper. And, it is a juicy and long drawn out story. One of the best reads that comes to mind was this delight, Clinton-Gore sales team eased Enron's path to success. Note: I'd saved the text - don't really know the source - and just found it at the link provided. It certainly seems to lay out the story rather well - at least as I recall it. Oh, there was always the connections to the Republicans as well - and, needless to say, our MSM covered all of those connections over and over again. But, Enron was made what it became by the Clinton machine - none other.
Besides, "Commerce," sounds too much like the "private sector," and we all know that that's something that's doing just fine, and doesn't need to be covered by the media.
(;~> gary
11th in line to the presidency...
Submitted by gopcongress on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 1:39pm.
He's 11th in line to the presidency in case of disaster...
Of course, that puts him behind luminaries such as Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Eric Holder.
"The news and truth are not the same thing." -Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER