Jen Psaki is Good at this Job

[TexLonghorn 5671]

 

Just kidding, it's fake.  We have actual adults  running things nowadays.

[BradInATX 9208]

Did Biden retain Deborah Birx or no?

[Surly Bevo 25089]

6 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

Did Biden retain Deborah Birx or no?

Birx got in a car with another chick and drove all over the US browbeating local officials to firm up their shit on Covid, think after that she got back she was spent and tapped out.  This is all recounted in the very well done and yet extremely long article "The Plague Year" which you can find at the New Yorker website.

Relevant section

Spoiler

16. Thelma and Louise

The President hadn’t gathered with supporters since March, and was eager to dive back into the pool of adulation. An event was scheduled for June 20th. “It’s going to be a hell of a night,” he promised. He tweeted, “Almost One Million people request tickets for the Saturday Night Rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma!”

Only sixty-two hundred showed up. Trump was enraged by the dismal turnout but delivered his usual blustery speech. Because Oklahoma had just seen a record increase in covid cases, attendees were required to release the Trump campaign from responsibility for any exposure. Just before Trump went onstage, two Secret Service officers and six campaign staffers tested positive.

In the audience was Herman Cain, the former C.E.O. of Godfather’s Pizza and an erstwhile Presidential candidate, who had become one of Trump’s most prominent Black supporters. Like nearly everyone else, he was unmasked. He flew home to Atlanta the next day, feeling exhausted—“from his travels,” his daughter, Melanie Cain Gallo, believed. It was Father’s Day, and she stopped by to give him a gift. They embraced. She had seen a photograph of him at the rally and wondered why he hadn’t worn a mask. Cain had preached the virtue of social distancing and hand washing on “The Herman Cain Show,” a Web series that he hosted, and he had usually worn a mask in public. He told her that everyone entering the Tulsa auditorium had passed a fever check—an insufficient gauge.

Gallo worked with her dad all week on his show. By Friday, they were both feeling ill, but Cain filmed another episode. Flanked by the American flag and a painting of Ronald Reagan, he looked wan, his eyes rheumy. He quoted a newspaper headline: “u.s. death rate falls for third day in a row.” Other newscasts had hyped rising case counts, he complained, adding, “They never get to the death rate is falling.”

On Monday, both were sick enough to go to a clinic for a test. Cain was feeling weak, so he waited by the car while Gallo stood in a long line. Suddenly, he passed out. An E.M.S. truck took him to the E.R. “They checked him out and said he was fine,” Gallo recalled. They returned to the testing clinic. Both were positive.

Her case was mild. On July 1st, Cain was hospitalized. That day, he tweeted an article about a forthcoming Trump rally at Mt. Rushmore. “Masks will not be mandatory,” Cain tweeted, adding approvingly, “people are fed up!” It was a defiant nod to Trump’s base. Cain died on July 30th. He was seventy-four.

For some public-health officials, Deborah Birx had become an object of scorn. “She’s been a disaster,” a former head of the C.D.C. told me. The Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves tweeted, “Dr. Birx, what the hell are you doing? What happened to you? Your HIV colleagues are ashamed.” Birx was accused of enabling an incompetent and mendacious President. The mortified look on her face at the press briefing when he suggested injecting disinfectant or using powerful light—“inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way”—became a meme, underscoring how much Trump had compromised scientists. The public didn’t know what she was saying in private.

Birx confided to colleagues that she’d lost confidence in the C.D.C. She disparaged the agency’s hospital reports on covid, which relied on models, not hard data. A C.D.C. staffer told Science that compiling precise totals daily in a pandemic was impossible. But hospitals quickly complied after Birx said that supplies of remdesivir could be portioned out only to hospitals that provided inpatient covid data.

In August, Dr. Scott Atlas, a neuroradiologist, a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and a Fox News regular, joined the task force. He was adamant that children should return to school—as was the American Academy of Pediatrics, which urged a “safe return” to schools in the fall, warning of learning deficits, physical or sexual abuse at home, and depression. That was a debate worth having, but most of Atlas’s views on covid seemed reckless. He insisted that masks did little to stop the spread, and he advocated creating “herd immunity” by allowing the virus to be passed freely among people at lower risk. Herd immunity is gained when roughly seventy per cent of a population has effective antibodies to the disease, through either infection or vaccination.

Once Atlas got to the White House, Trump stopped speaking to other health advisers. Herd immunity could be achieved by doing nothing at all, which became the President’s unspoken policy. Atlas encouraged Trump and others to believe that the pandemic was waning. “His voice is really very welcome combatting some of the nonsense that comes out of Fauci,” Stephen Moore, a White House economic adviser, reportedly said. (The White House denies that “the President, the White House, or anyone in the Administration has pursued or advocated for a strategy of achieving herd immunity.”)

Birx and Atlas had it out in the Oval Office, in front of Trump. Birx accused Atlas of costing American lives with his unfounded theories. Atlas cursed her. Birx, who spent twenty-eight years in the Army, gave it right back. Atlas said that young, asymptomatic people shouldn’t be tested, adding, “She just wants to lock them down and not let them live their lives.” They kept shouting at each other, but Trump was undisturbed and didn’t take either side. “It’s all reality TV to him,” one of Birx’s colleagues said.

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After the confrontation, Birx demanded that Pence remove Atlas, but Pence declined. The task force began to dissolve after Atlas took a seat.

When Birx was working in Africa, she and her chief epidemiologist, Irum Zaidi, had met with Presidents and village elders across the continent, learning the value of personal diplomacy. The two scientists decided to take an American road trip together. The contagion had moved from the coasts to the heartland. In June, when the virus suddenly gripped Texas, Birx and Zaidi travelled to Dallas to meet with Governor Greg Abbott. Abbott’s dithering response to the pandemic had led to attacks by Democrats—who noted that the death rate soared when he lifted restrictions too soon—and by Republicans, who called him a tyrant for imposing any restrictions at all. At a press conference, Birx urged Texans to mask up, especially young people. “If they’re interacting with their parents and grandparents, they should wear a mask,” she said. “No one wants to pass the virus to others.” She praised Abbott for closing bars, knowing that he was being pressured to fully open the economy. Abbott soon issued a mask mandate.

Zaidi grew up in Atlanta, and her father was a C.D.C. statistician. On vacations, they took long car trips, a passion passed along to Zaidi. She loves to drive—fast. As they were leaving Dallas, a state trooper pulled her over. She’d been doing a hundred and ten.

“Little lady, what’s the hurry?” he asked.

Zaidi explained that they’d just met Governor Abbott, and New Mexico’s governor was next. “Surely you recognize Dr. Birx,” she said.

The trooper let them off.

Soon after their visit to New Mexico, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a hundred-dollar fine for going maskless in public. Birx and Zaidi proceeded to Arizona and met with Governor Doug Ducey. Birx explained that even a small increase in the percentage of positivity—going from 3.5 to five per cent—could spark an unmanageable crisis. Ducey soon declared, “If you want to participate in any good or service in Arizona, you’re going to wear a mask.”

Birx and Zaidi racked up twenty-five thousand miles as they crossed the country eight times, visiting forty-three states, many more than once. They saw the rural areas and the cities, red America and blue America. They drove past cotton farms and soybean fields, but they also saw derelict oil rigs and abandoned factories, remnants of a vanishing industrial age. There were gleaming cities, bold and glassy, with construction cranes crowning the skyline, and broken towns, tumbling in decay, with all the promise bled out of them.

The women, who got regular covid tests, established their own protocols. They cleaned rental cars and motel rooms with Clorox Wipes. In the morning, early, they’d pick up coffee and pastries at Starbucks. Lunch was often peanut butter spread on bread with a plastic knife. Dinner was served at a drive-through window. Baristas and gas-station attendants were useful informants of community outbreaks and served as indicators of local mask compliance. Birx and Zaidi met mayors and community organizers; they visited hospitals and nursing homes; they turned H.I.V. activists into covid activists. In Atlanta, they urged officials to test migrants working on chicken farms. They visited more than thirty universities. Those which conducted mandatory weekly testing of students had positivity rates below one per cent; at schools where only symptomatic people were tested, positivity rates were twelve to fifteen per cent. Republican and Democratic governors made the same complaint: many people wouldn’t listen as long as Trump refused to set an example.

One of the most effective governors Birx and Zaidi encountered was Jim Justice, of West Virginia. He issued a mask mandate, and in press briefings he read out the names of West Virginians who had died of covid. He urged residents to “be great, loving neighbors.” The state developed a plan to safely reopen schools by constantly assessing the level of risk in every county and presenting these data on a color-coded map. “It’s something that every county and every state can do,” Birx said. “West Virginia represents exactly what we want to see across the country—a commonsense approach based on the data.”

Apandemic lays bare a society’s frailties. Birx and Zaidi saw a nation that was suffering from ill health even before covid attacked, where forty per cent of adults are obese, nearly half have cardiovascular disease, and one in thirteen has asthma. They visited reservations and met with Native Americans, who have been particularly ravaged by covid. The Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, in Arizona, gave Birx a mask inscribed with the Salt River tribe’s shield. When North Dakota recorded the nation’s highest rate of infection, Birx met with the governor, Doug Burgum, and with local, state, and tribal officials. Birx scolded them: “This is the least use of masks that we have seen in retail establishments of any place we have been.” She added, “It starts with the community, and the community deciding that it’s important for their children to be in school, the community deciding that it’s important not to infect the nursing-home staff who are caring for their residents.” Burgum eventually agreed to a mask mandate. In South Dakota, Governor Kristi Noem couldn’t find the time to meet with Birx.

For nearly six months, Birx corralled politicians, hospital executives, and public-health officials, often bringing such leaders together for the first time. She took charts and slides from state to state, promoting a simple, consistent message about masks, social distancing, transparency, and responsible leadership. She was the only federal official doing so.

One day in October, Birx and Zaidi were eating lunch at a roadside stop in Utah, beside the Bonneville Salt Flats, where land speed records are often set. The salt stretched out like a frozen sea.

They’d rented a blue Jeep Wrangler. “We have to go off-road, for just a minute,” Zaidi said. Birx gazed at the great white emptiness. “As long as you don’t hit anybody,” she said.

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Surly Bevo

[Neonmoon 38130]

13 minutes ago, BradInATX said:

Did Biden retain Deborah Birx or no?

She wanted to be retained. His campaign didn’t answer her calls. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

12 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Which one?

Kayleigh Mcenany is to whom I refer. During the Task Force meetings I was still watching on the regular, but when she came onboard and the meetings has turned into the Wheel of Misfortune Hour, I quit.

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

10 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

She wanted to be retained. His campaign didn’t answer her calls. 

Here's a little more news regarding Birx. She had already announced her retirement in December; she took a lot of heat for a Thanksgiving trip she took and had to walk the episode back and then back some more.

At the beginning of the Task Force meetings, I thought she would do a good job, but she seemed to have a lot more difficulty navigating the political landscape versus the public health/science and by not sticking with the latter, she placed herself in a poor position. I don't know what her thoughts were, perhaps behind the scenes she was making the effort to manage what she could. But she came off pretty poorly and I'm sure that the new administration has other doctors they can promote to take over. I haven't yet read the New Yorker article I posted below; I hope to this weekend.

 

 

[Goredho 17413]

16 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

 

Lol, he is so giddy, he can barely contain his enthusiasm.  I love it.

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

This redhead seems to enjoy her job and is actually talking to the media.

[Bama Chick 28596]

[mchookem 16342]

honestly...god bless Dr. Birx and her road trip, no telling how many lives she may have saved with that effort. yeah, she could have pushed back harder in public on the White House, but for whatever reason she didn't/couldn't...i can't imagine what kind of nightmare she was living trying to navigate with around an official position that was likely antithetical to her entire life's work.

i suspect there's a lesson there somewhere about the difference bt men and women navigating a difficult workspace...Fauci basically not giving a shit and Birx trying to please all parties. the story of the oval office argument and Trump just watching like a ghoul enjoying the fight... god, he was/is literally a monster.

[Bookman 4639]

I think I’m in love with her.

[Aqua Buddha 14599]

7 minutes ago, mchookem said:

honestly...god bless Dr. Birx and her road trip, no telling how many lives she may have saved with that effort. yeah, she could have pushed back harder in public on the White House, but for whatever reason she didn't/couldn't...i can't imagine what kind of nightmare she was living trying to navigate with around an official position that was likely antithetical to her entire life's work.

i suspect there's a lesson there somewhere about the difference bt men and women navigating a difficult workspace...Fauci basically not giving a shit and Birx trying to please all parties. the story of the oval office argument and Trump just watching like a ghoul enjoying the fight... god, he was/is literally a monster.

From what I understand, Brix got wrapped up in the politics of it all.  Found it seductive while Fauci, despite living most of his life in DC, hates politics.  He's fairly well known but not involved in politics at all and doesn't care for it.

[Bruh Man 3160]

Why does OAN still have their credentials?

[Haphap 741]

I wondered why the question of the chief usher came up and this is why
 

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by Haphap

[shakahorn 1645]

22 minutes ago, Bruh Man said:

Why does OAN still have their credentials?

They either never actually had credentials or had them revoked.  They were 'invited guests' to the PC's.  That's why their reporter always stood in the back and didn't take a seat up front with the real journalists.  Not sure what changed.

[crash_davis 23114]

19 minutes ago, Haphap said:

I wondered why the question of the chief usher came up and this is why
 

 

"winning" (however fucking mundane and petty) matters more than integrity. I think that should be the title of his next autobiography. 

[High Plains Drifter 11050]

 

22 hours ago, YChang said:

Loved her response to that stupid question though. 

 

 

If it was anything other than "Here's a fig leaf. Now go shove it up your ass", I am disappoint.

I would also have accepted "go fuck yourself."

edit: or "fuck your feelings"

Edited January 22, 2021 by High Plains Drifter

[Chad Fuck 17698]

2 hours ago, Bookman said:

I think I’m in love with her.

Hands off, I saw her first. 

[956 Worldwide 34738]

 

[Bama Chick 28596]

So good at her job.

[immamac 42877]

It's incredible how long a ways being human goes. 

[Haphap 741]

5 hours ago, Bama Chick said:

So good at her job.
 

lots of replies about not answering the travel ban (which I noticed flooded the previous tweet that led to this video).  Looks like they will not like the answer when it becomes official in the next few days

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-travel-exclusi-idUSKBN29T0P6

Edited January 25, 2021 by Haphap
forgot link

[Mo Horn 8852]

 

[Longhorn_Fan68 33881]

they also released the transcript from the call between Biden and Putin. Holy shit, transparency. What a concept

[Underdog 28754]

I’d move to CT to vote for her as Gov. 

[Chad Fuck 17698]

6 minutes ago, Underdog said:

I’d move to CT to vote for her as Gov. 

It's a great idea, but I heard she's not running.

[WhatTheBuck 28794]

3 hours ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

they also released the transcript from the call between Biden and Putin. Holy shit, transparency. What a concept

Used to be we had to rely on the Russians to do that. 

[Chooky 13317]

On 1/22/2021 at 2:03 PM, Haphap said:

I wondered why the question of the chief usher came up and this is why
 

 

[Neonmoon 38130]

Is there a country where stupid people aren’t allowed to ask questions? I want to move tho that country 

[SydneyCarton 48134]

19 minutes ago, Neonmoon said:

Is there a country where stupid people aren’t allowed to ask questions? I want to move tho that country 

Japan. 

[Neonmoon 38130]

20 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

Japan. 

[Red Five 40877]

Shhh. She's speaking.

Hi honey. 

[Mo Horn 8852]

 

[elfenix 34331]

 

[NameAlreadyInUse 5114]

I spoke too soon on saying y'all need to be careful and not mistake competence for excellence because of the low bar.  I think she actually is better than competent.  She's at least good and maybe better than that.  Been impressed.  She's made them boring again to some extent but she knows how to throw a barb to put the dumb questions in check.

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

On 1/20/2021 at 7:20 PM, Woland said:

 

Or maybe she just has a low bar to reach after her predecessor.

 

She sucks... big time.. "we'll have to circle back around to you with an answer" that should just be tattooed on her forehead or a T shirt. Yeah she sucks a lot. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

4 hours ago, elfenix said:

 

#PsakiBomb was trending today but I've been too busy to hang out here--although I did catch the press conference this morning. She has a lot of ums, but it sure is nice to hear someone answer with an "I don't know the answer to that, but I'll look it up." Good example to set.

Also, for you fans who like more content; watch the video for a nice behind the scenes visual....

 

[TwiceHorn 31512]

On 1/21/2021 at 4:29 PM, Brisketexan said:

"So, here's a thing that is a bipartisan olive branch to the GOP that you never saw from the last administration to the Dems -- This admin hasn't accused the entire GOP of being enemies of the state and controlled by a foreign government.  But keep fucking around, and you'll find out."

*fig leaf

[burntorangebongos 10750]

How does she pronounce her name? I am calling her Pa-saki but is that right? 

[WhatTheBuck 28794]

2 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

How does she pronounce her name? I am calling her Pa-saki but is that right? 

Socky. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

1 minute ago, burntorangebongos said:

How does she pronounce her name? I am calling her Pa-saki but is that right? 

Watch and she will pronounce it at the beginning:

In addition, I have no problem with the 'circle back around,' although it does seem to be a pet phrase. She may have always done that, or she may be working on her delivery--her old position was slightly different IIRC in the pace and scope of the briefings. So, she's competent, but hopefully will grow more comfortable. As has been said before, it's a low bar right now.

[burntorangebongos 10750]

Socky Bomb

2 jiggers Tequila

1 grapefruit juiced, preferably Ruby Red but real fresh like our girl Jen

1 Topo Chico bottle

1 lime sliced

Trappy's Sliced Jalapenos for garnish

Mix the tequila and grapefruit and dirty with Jalapeno juice in a shaker with ice. SHAKE!! Get a tall glass and fill with crushed ice. Add Topo Chico to taste, along with a slice of lime and slices of Jalapeño for spiciness.

Enjoy a professional speak to the Press and the American people.

 

[washparkhorn 9939]

18 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

I have no problem with the "circle back around"

Nor do I. 

I use it for good questions that deserve a response.  The key to its effectiveness is one's credibility. Always circle back if you declare you will.  That's just being a good human, imho. 

_______________________

 

 

[Gil Bang 25984]

35 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

She sucks... big time.. "we'll have to circle back around to you with an answer" that should just be tattooed on her forehead or a T shirt. Yeah she sucks a lot. 

That's a fair criticism, if she indeed does not "circle back".   If she ultimately gets the info to whomever asked the question...well, there isn't anything wrong with that.    If the last cunt didn't (or did) know the correct answer, she'd just make up a fucking lie anyway. 

[Gil Bang 25984]

27 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Socky. 

Yep.  

Like the sock I use when she's on TV. 

[WhatTheBuck 28794]

10 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

Socky Bomb

2 jiggers Tequila

1 grapefruit juiced, preferably Ruby Red but real fresh like our girl Jen

1 Topo Chico bottle

1 lime sliced

Trappy's Sliced Jalapenos for garnish

Mix the tequila and grapefruit and dirty with Jalapeno juice in a shaker with ice. SHAKE!! Get a tall glass and fill with crushed ice. Add Topo Chico to taste, along with a slice of lime and slices of Jalapeño for spiciness.

Enjoy a professional speak to the Press and the American people.

Seems like the recipe should call for sake. 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

1 minute ago, Gil Bang said:

That's a fair criticism, if she indeed does not "circle back".   If she ultimately gets the info to whomever asked the question...well, there isn't anything wrong with that.    If the last cunt any of the last administration didn't (or did) know the correct answer, she'd just make up a fucking lie anyway. 

FIFY

[Onboard 2.0 9083]

6 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

That's a fair criticism, if she indeed does not "circle back".   If she ultimately gets the info to whomever asked the question...well, there isn't anything wrong with that.    If the last cunt didn't (or did) know the correct answer, she'd just make up a fucking lie anyway. 

If you're gonna a have a press sec. give em more than one line. They're shills for admins anyway, they're usually pretty useless.

[burntorangebongos 10750]

I don't know how to make anything with Sake and I wanted a drink that was fresh and spicy like her. 

 

[Mrs Whiggins 13050]

13 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

I don't know how to make anything with Sake and I wanted a drink that was fresh and spicy like her. 

 

Apparently some of her ancestry is Polish, so perhaps a Polish wodka (vodka), grenadine, and grapefruit juice with the jalapeno would give it that sweet, spicy, heat.

 

I disagree that the WH Press Secretary is a shill; when done right, it provides journalists with the info they need in large amounts w/o taking away extra time from the people in charge. The position ebbs and flows depending upon the Administration, the press secretary, and the press pool. Unless your referring to rally pressers which are a whole 'nother category completely heretofore unseen and hopefully have gone the way of the dodo.