Jen Psaki is incredible. Not condescending, defensive, dishonest, dismissive...

[nolabear]

She says no when she means no, answers what she can and admits when she can't, is straightforward with intelligent answers, treats even the baiting reporters with respect...I cannot believe how amazing this seems. We have been in hell.

[intrepidity]

1. Yeah, where did she come from? nt

[MontanaMama]

23. I believe she was the deputy communications director

for Obama...she also worked for John Kerry and Tom Vilsack. She’s quite polished and entertaining to watch.

[Blue_true]

30. She was Press Secretary for either the Defense Dept. or State Dept. under President Obama.

I remember her doing several Press Conference in that role. She joined the Press operation for the Biden campaign at some point, not the earliest points. I believe that O’Malley-Dillon may have brought her in to add experienced Press expertise.

[5X]

2. Its like going from Saturday morning cartoons to masters level classes.

[moondust]

3. Agree.

K/R

[skip fox]

4. It's hard to guage. These days competence seems like brilliance.

Despite that, however, she seems highly intelligent, disciplined, and human.

[zipplewrath]

5. Noncombative

It's nice that it's not mortal combat the whole time. She starts cooperative and moves towards terse when needed, then returns to cooperative. Of course she gets a pass for a while because it's literally been hours since he took office. But in the long run it should be a good pattern, "nice, terse, combative" instead of "punch first, ask later".

[Blue_true]

31. She is pretty experienced, she was Press Secretary for one of the major

Departments for a while in the Obama Administration.

[ProfessorGAC]

6. There Are Have Been PressSecs Like That Before

But, the last 4 years were so bad, it's easy to forget what a press secretary who isn't a petulant, sanctimonious, condescending liar looks like.

[GopherGal]

41. When I think of K-lie

(and I try not to)
I think belligerent and smugly mendacious.
Or maybe mendacious and smugly belligerent...


Have to appreciate the improvement!

[onetexan]

45. They're belligerent because they're mendacious

All of the Con's press toadies.

[GopherGal]

46. True. I think K-lie stood out because of the smugness she combined with the belligerence

I think they knew they were *so* transparent in their lying that they unavoidably earned the contempt of the press, so they defensively exhibited their own contempt first.

Toxic excrement through and through, just like their boss.

[Wednesdays]

7. "I'd like to circle back with you on that..."

She likes to use that "circle back" phrase a lot. So much so, I noticed one of the reporters said it!

[Botany]

25. And when she circles back at least yesterday she makes a little spinning motion with her fingers

I was just talking to my neighbor this PM as we let our dogs play and he said after watching her last
night it was like a weight was lifted from his chest.

[MyOwnPeace]

8. Sorry I missed it but gotta' ask.......

is she wearing a cross or related to an evangelical nut job? If not - how can you trust her?

[IcyPeas]

9. and she's not wearing a fake cross.

[Thekaspervote]

10. I like her a lot..some are complaining about her using the term "circle back." Lay off!!

[nolabear]

13. OFFS. SOME just need to bitch.

I'll admit it's going to be hard to give up the thrill of eternal combat, but...

[MuseRider]

11. I am amazed,

I had really forgotten what it felt like to have some serious and thoughtful answers to questions. She is good, very good and I am enjoying listening to her. It is something to look forward to now. She seems like a real person, not a Gish galloping nothing like we have been served off and on recently.

Life feels so much better. I am sure it will even out as we get used to what we were used to before.

[tenderfoot]

12. Some of those questions...

The one going about "but he promised an olive branch with Republicans..."

The other about "but he wasn't wearing a mask on federal property...."

I thought she handled it well.

[nolabear]

14. They're testing her. And she's passing.

[mvd]

15. She's doing great

Definitely ready to hit the ground running.

Is the “P” in her last name silent? I want to make sure I pronounce her name right.

[Blue_true]

33. I don't remember the rule,

but I believe that a letter is silent only if a vowel follows a vowel. For example Phoenix is pronounced “Phenix”. If I remember correctly, the rules for a consonant following a consonant or a consonant-vowel pairing are a lot more complex, depending upon what the combination is. Maybe some of the English majors here can weigh in.

I looked it up, as I expected, it is more complex and also depend upon where (region of the world) a person is.

I believe her last name is pronounced “zacki”. The PS being together followed by a vowel need to be pronounced as another letter, in this case the “PS” becomes “Z”.

If any English majors weigh in, go easy on me, I have been out of corporate America for a while in the South, so most names here are easier to pronounce due to most being English, Spanish or simple German.

[mvd]

37. I finally found this online

https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/nation-world/biden-white-house-communications-director-jen-psaki/507-dbaac21e-e1c5-41c5-b9cc-ed5b506dc029

According to the article, her name is pronounced SOCK-eee.

[Blue_true]

39. Oops, I guess I get sent back to grade school or whatever.

My reading oh the rules caused me to say her last name as “Zacki”. I did remember that two consonants together changed the sound, but looks like more was involved than I concluded upon looking over rules.

[GopherGal]

47. Surname pronunciation seems to have little to do with general rules of English pronunciation.

Or any other language pronunciation, once they get mis-transcribed at Ellis Island and "Americanized" (i.e. dumbed-down to accommodate Americans' (mis)pronunciation)

Just ask Brett Favre. Or one of the Wangs I have known that pronounces it as in "Tango" or the ones that pronounce it as in "Wong"

So at some point all you can do is go with the expressed preference of the person you're addressing.

[smirkymonkey]

16. Her straightforwardness and sanity makes me all too aware of how abused and gaslit we have

been since Trump took office. I saw a side-by-side of her and Sean Spice on Twitter and what a contrast!

And he was one of, if not THE, most normal Trump press secretaries! No wonder I felt like I was literally losing my fucking mind over the past four years. It was absolute madness.

[nolabear]

18. We're going to need to remind ourselves how insane it was.

It’s so aberrant it doesn’t stick well in the mind. We absolutely need things like those comparisons. Spicer/Psaki, Fauci before and after, all the inhuman treatment of everyone.

I don’t plan to dwell once my jaw is up off the floor but we certainly cannot forget.

[smirkymonkey]

21. I think these side-by-side comparisons are good.

Just to remind us of how bad it was then and what normalcy should look like. The contrast is amazing. I was watching that one video thinking to myself, "How and why did we ever put up with that shit?"

It's like having been in an abusive relationship or workplace after you have freed yourself from it. You cannot believe you ever put up with the shit that you put up with. You are convinced that you were temporarily insane, but it was that person, or those people who were making you insane.

[Cetacea]

17. She is wonderful!

Thanks for your OP.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

19. The new public speakers are so refreshing!

The educated ADULTS are in charge again!

If that's "elitist", I'll gladly take that over lying and ignorance!

[Tennessee Hillbilly]

20. I'm very impressed

Not only is she very intelligent and knowledgeable, she is a excellent speaker with great composure.

[TNNurse]

22. We watched her yesterday and were stunned that we wanted to see it all.

[MontanaMama]

24. I was so impressed they had a presser

on the day of the inauguration! Just like business as usual. So refreshing. I found myself setting an alarm on my phone so I could tune in while I was at work today.

[BlueIdaho]

26. A small quibble - I wish reporters names and affiliations were identified

Regardless, Ms Psaki is a real pro, I have nothing but respect for her!

[not fooled]

27. Is OAN gone?

and the rest of the wacko RW outlets?

'Bye Chantal.

[Blue_true]

34. I believe that under President Obama they were allowed to stay,

but their BS was corrected by facts on the spot.

[Wednesdays]

36. Fox Noise definitely has a presence

One reporter keeps asking asinine questions about Amazon.

[BobTheSubgenius]

28. Bad, terrible, awful Com. Dir's (or whatever they call them now) have been a GOP mainstay for ages.

Even Nixon had a decent one, although I didn't think so at the time. But Junior and Il Douche devolved the brand into whatever it is that fetid pond scum looks down on.

[Hekate]

29. I agree, nolabear. Jen Psaki is wonderful to behold...

Thanks for this OP. DU has had two days in a row of astonishingly petty complaints about Ms Psaki’s presentation skills. Seriously,

[Danmel]

32. I believe she said she worked with State

She mentioned traveling the world.

[Blue_true]

35. She was eventually the Press Secretary there. I remember her, because she was

very competent, and I hate to admit it, I found her to be attractive.

[Seasider]

38. Who was that reporter that whined about Biden and family not wearing a mask?

It was a useless question if he wasn’t going to provide specifics. I thought Psaki handled it as well as she could have.

[R B Garr]

40. She handled that one guy asking what Biden has done

for Republicans so far.

[onetexan]

42. During the Obama years & prior admins, i hardly ever listened to these Press briefings. Now with

Ms. Psaki i really look forward to her very sharp, adroit and well-delivered updates. Really impressed by her quick wit and knowledge of the facts and delivering Biden's plans. She is top notch!!

[nolabear]

43. Oddly, the shitshow these past four years might have helped

engender actual interest in how things work and what it’s like when they work well.

[onetexan]

44. Agree. The constant lying & facts distortion was revolting

I could not stand to see those inept people take to the podium only to bully, belittle &straight up lie to the press. Truth matters, &ms Psaki is doing a great job to counter the misinformation.