Sean Spicer Is Washington's First Pariah
By JACK SHAFER September 21, 2017
Former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has achieved the impossible.
Washington routinely forgives its philanderers, drug addicts and alcoholics, embezzlers, perjurers, bribers and bribees, liars, burglars and tax evaders, granting them the redemption of another term in office or a job in a lobbying shop or think tank after their scandal passes. It even absolved a drunk who killed a young lady, giving him a prince’s funeral when he died. The writer who said that there are no second acts in American life never lived here. But that iron law hasn’t helped Spicer. Since leaving the White House this summer, he has gained admittance to a circle of one: He has become a Washington pariah. Nobody wants to be anywhere near him, but everyone wants to talk smack about him. He’s not just a punchline. He’s become a national laughing stock ever since his cameo on the Emmy Awards this week, where he attempted a joke about his most famous White House lie.
How did this happen? Where did Spicer screw up? Your average White House press secretary has little trouble converting his former status into a hot job, even if he or she leaves the job unloved by the masses. Josh Earnest gum-flaps for NBC News now, and Dana Perino does the same at Fox News Channel. George Stephanopoulos presides over oceans of airtime for ABC, including a Sunday morning show. Jay Carney left the White House to cash in with a gig at Amazon. Robert Gibbs took a similar path, taking a big job under the McDonald’s Golden Arches.
Spicer’s inability to secure a TV contract from any of the news networks—especially when they’re desperate for somebody to take the counterpoint and defend President Donald Trump—speaks volumes of his contamination. Another measure of Spicer’s failure: He signed with Bob Barnett, the big macher among Washington talent representatives. If Barnett can’t sell him, who can?
POLITICO's Tara Palmeri reckons that the media business’ resistance has much to do with Spicer’s low e-score, a measure of public opinion of celebrities. Spicer’s April e-score marks for “aggressiveness” and “creepiness” were relatively high, Palmeri reported, and respondents rated him more aggressive than the average politician. Spicer, it should be noted, hasn’t been an absolute media washout. He has turned down a slot on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. The show must have felt that it needed a villain in the competition.
more
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/09/21/jack-shafer-sean-spicer-pariah-215634?lo=ap_f1
= new reply since forum marked as read
Three free meals and an hour of exercise in the courtyard per day.
