That’s what Robert Mann, former press secretary to Democratic Senators John Breaux and Russell Long, had to say about this tweet from BuzzFeed’s Kate Nocera:
Every important person in the country will be in one room tonight which is insane when you think about it.
— KateNocera (@KateNocera) January 28, 2014
You would be forgiven for wondering if DC scribes are too reverential to the politicos they cover. I mean, it’s not just that this suggests that the (frequently awful) DC leaders who take other people’s hard-earned money and spend it poorly are somehow more important than the millions of Americans who actually create wealth, defend the country, strengthen their fellow citizens and raise up the next generation. After some gentle ribbing from various folks, Nocera said it was “pretty clear” she meant every government official, but even that is wrong. Or, at least, it betrays just some of the biases that infect many media folks in D.C.
Again, the millions of state and local government officials have probably done more to improve the lives of average citizens than the folks in D.C. Unless you count costly yet shockingly ineffective programs that rarely meet the objectives lawmakers claim they want to meet as “improvements.”
But also, the strength of the Constitutional Republic isn’t held up in the personalities of those holding the current seats. Even if, God forbid, something tragic happened at the U.S. Capitol when U.S. Representatives, Senators, the President and his cabinet members and the Supreme Court Justices were gathered there, it would not be the end of the world. Each state and congressional district has untold qualified candidates who could replace others. We have provisions for handling transfer of power. And we even have a Cabinet member who stays away in case of an emergency. This year? Someone very important, I’m sure, named Dr. Ernest Moniz who runs our Energy Department. Apparently we have a cabinet member who looks like a hippie and is named Ernest Moniz. All good to know.
On the other hand, maybe Nocera has a point. As someone I’m related to by marriage put it:
If a bomb goes off, we still have Moniz to lead us. We already had a nuclear physcist lead the country and that turned out… oh crap.
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) January 29, 2014
Two more bonus tweets, for those who wonder how much the Washington press corps hates you. First up, from the Washington Post’s Petula Dvorak:
Doesn't McAllister know he can find real redneck bigots to bring to #SOTU, without bringing a #fakeDuckDynasty one?http://t.co/Ua3Vwnox9X
— Petula Dvorak (@petulad) January 29, 2014
And this, about how the Huffington Post gets confused about facts and details:
They don't care for details @daveweigel: Hey, HuffPo: It was PHIL, not Willie, who said that stuff about gays http://t.co/BEDBbJDgkD
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) January 29, 2014
All you unimportant people can go back to your silly jobs and families now.
