Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil

[[O P E N N E S S]] * Why is it that the Bush White House seems so terminally tone deaf, so determined to react to criticism in ways that are likely only to worsen that criticism, rather than curtail it? Case in point: During an appearance on the program Fox News Sunday, new White House chief of staff Josh Bolten was asked how Tony Snow, the FOX News commentator turned presidential press secretary, might shake things up.

Bolten said it may be worth considering whether to end the daily televised press briefings where reporters and the press secretary frequently air disputes in front of the cameras, but he will leave that decision up to Snow.

“I think that will be Tony Snow’s first test--to see what kind of power player he really is and whether he’s able to establish the right kind of relationship with the press that we need going forward,” Bolten said, appearing on the same show that Snow hosted for seven years.

So, in order to prevent American voters from seeing the administration, in the form of Snow, questioned about its policies, misdeeds, or bumbling, the Busheviks think everyone will be happier if the press is further barred from confronting the White House, no matter what it does?

Yeah, and we all know how well such attempts to keep the public in the dark worked for Richard Nixon, don’t we.

READ MORE: “Cheney Won’t Tell How Much He Keeps Secret,” by Mark Silva (Chicago Tribune); “Building the Secrecy Wall Higher and Higher,” by Glenn Greenwald (Unclaimed Territory).