PrintJanuary 7, 2011
Obama's mouthpiece forced out by his new henchman
Toby Harnden, British journalism's gift to America (he is the Telegraph's Washington correspondent) brings refreshing candor and colorfulness to his coverage of the White House staff shake-up. The actual headline of his blog covering the departure of Robert Gibbs is: "Obama mouthpiece Robert Gibbs was forced out by new henchman William Daley."
It's being reported by John King on CNN right now that Gibbs wanted to be a presidential counsellor - something he's been putting about for quite a while - but William Daley, the new chief of staff, nixed this because he believed that too many cooks would spoil the presidential broth. So that's why Gibbs is out.
Harnden also sees Valerie Jarrett on the way out:
It's no secret that Rahm Emanuel, a Daley protege, clashed with Jarrett. Or that David Plouffe, about to join the White House, was often at odds with her when he was the 2008 Obama campaign manager. Obama is nothing if not ruthless. He dropped Jane Dystel, the agent who approached him to write "Dreams from my Father", and has previously cut loose long-time advisers. One aide described him as "the most unsentimental man I've ever met".
Harnden is a successor to Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, who covered the Clinton White House for the Telegraph, and who was unmatched in his grasp of the corruption there. Would that we had more American journalists who write with such wit and flavor as the Telegraph's correspondents.
