Only the boss gets to lie

Hopefully, this is the last time I’ll have to write about John “Pat” Philbin, the FEMA official who, after helping fake a FEMA press conference, appeared on the verge of promotion to head of public affairs at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Yesterday morning, Philbin’s dishonest rise seemed a given, one certainly in keeping with Bush administration standard operating procedure.

By early afternoon, following many media reports of Philbin’s rise, there were doubts about him keeping his new gig. By suppertime, Philbin was out, the Office of DNI having decided that someone best known as a fraud wasn’t the best choice to coordinate its public image.

All well and good, except…

The Director of National Intelligence is Mike McConnell, a man who has been caught “misleading” Congress on important matters, and his job seems secure. (In the same way that rich people are “eccentric” instead of “crazy”, top American political officials don’t “lie”, they “mislead”.)

So what have we learned? Lying and deception is only acceptable in the Bush administration these days if you hold an important post of public trust.

Tags: FEMA, John "Pat" Philbin, lessons of Katrina, lie, Mike McConnell, mislead, Offfice of Director of National Intelligence, phony