"Newcomers learn quickly that Washington is a town run by twenty-somethings. So, for that matter, is much of the presidential campaign." -- Jim Tankersley, "The young and the campaigning," The Swamp, 20 August 2007.
Kate "Bedingfield of Dreams."
Readers will recall my post from yesterday on Eric Schultz entitled "White House gets serious about the Gunwalker scandal. How do we know? They hired a Net-savvy PR flack skilled in scandal-deflection."
You may also recall this key paragraph:
“Eric Schultz started Monday. He will be one of three associate communications directors, alongside Kate Bedingfield and Sandra Abrevaya," said a top administration official. "Eric’s portfolio of issues will focus mainly on DOJ and other oversight-related topics.” (Emphasis supplied, MBV.)
So who, I wondered, were Kate Bedingfield and Sandra Abrevaya?
Like Schultz, they are young. Like Schultz, Bedingfield "served in the press shop of former Sen. John Edwards’ (D-NC) presidential campaign" before jumping that sinking ship to take a position with the successful Senatorial campaign of former New Hampshire Gov. Jeanne Shaheen versus the old RINO, John Sununu. Prior to the Edwards' fiasco, Bedingfield had been a regional press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
While with Edwards, Bedingfield was criticized for "Non-Clarification" clarifications about attacks on Hillary Clinton. Jason Horowitz wrote:
I just called over to the John Edwards campaign to get a clarification on whether Edwards' comments today about the need for "honesty, openness and decency" were aimed at Hillary Clinton.
Kate Bedingfield, a spokeswoman for the Edwards campaign, wouldn't specifically say if Edwards was or was not referring to her.
"Americans want a president they can trust and that will be trusted in the world," she said.
When asked if Edwards was suggesting that Clinton was not such a person, she answered, "It's just about restoring the American's faith in their leaders and the leadership they are receiving from their president."
Sort of answers my question.
Post-election on 25 November 2008 Ryan Hughes declared Bedingfield the "Most Effective Communicator":
Kate Bedingfield. Shaheen's communications director had cut her teeth in New Hampshire politics by performing the same role for the presidential campaign of ex-North Carolina Sen. John Edwards. Her future in political consulting work appears limitless. While she may not land back on Capitol Hill in some form, she has made a lot of important contacts in this race that make her a valuable asset in the future.
Hughes needn't have worried, for she was shortly picked up by the Obama White House as an associate communications director. Since she's held the position, she's achieved notice for denying that Obama was in a “Whoomp There It Is” video and putting down the rumors about the Obama White House Christmas Tree.
In a FOX Business story on 4 May 2010, Bedingfield was quoted on the subject of "Agencies struggle to meet Obama's Open Government Directive."
Responding to an independent audit critical of the administration's performance on the promise of the OGD, Bedingfield waffled:
The DOJ's ranking at the bottom of the stack is similarly disappointing "given its charge to implement the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), America's oldest public access law," the report said.
White House spokeswoman Kate Bedingfield noted that the evaluators gave almost half of the agencies scores of 80% or higher, while a "vast majority" had scores of over 70%.
At the same time "we also agree that much remains to be done on this unprecedented effort to make government more transparent," Bedingfield said in an e-mail. "We look forward to continuing to work together with open government advocates and the public on the evolution and implementation of these plans."
No doubt Bedingfield will bring her commitment to transparent government to the gunwalker scandal.
On a Facebook page Bedingfield describes herself as "Bedingfield of Dreams" proclaiming an interest in "Religion & Spirituality." She evidently is a fan of the film "Field of Dreams" for the page asks and answers this question: "Is this heaven? No, it's Kate Bedingfield." Again on her FAQ:
Q: Did it hurt when you fell? Because Heaven is missing an angel...
A: Yes.
Sandra Abrevaya as Deputy Communications Director at the United States Department of Education.
Another of Obama's angels is Sandra Abrevaya, who, prior to taking the White House Deputy Press Secretary job was Deputy Communications Director of the Department of Education.
Abrevaya is the daughter of Dr. Hayim Abrevaya, a brilliant Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University and Senior Research Associate, UOP, a Honeywell company, located in Des Plaines, IL.
UOP is a leading supplier of catalyst, process and equipment technology to the oil, gas and petrochemical industry and is based in Des Plaines, Illinois. Dr. Abrevaya has a broad experience in the field of catalysis, particularly with zeolites and with supported metal catalysts. He has led several UOP projects, from exploratory catalyst research to process commercialization. His specific research expertise covers various areas, including naphtha cracking, aromatic isomerization, alkene skeletal isomerization, alkene oligomerization, alkane dehydrogenation, selective hydrogenation, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and zeolite electronic applications. Hayim holds 30 US patents and published 10 papers.
Whoa. If Sandra is half as brilliant in her field of spin and deflection as her father is in petrochemicals, she is a formidable opponent.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Abrevaya played Gwendolen in the 1999 production of The Importance of Being Earnest.
In 2003-2004, Abrevaya worked in the presidential campaign of John Kerry, memorialized in the docu-movie Staffers '04.
After Kerry's defeat, Abrevaya worked as a congressional press staffer in 2005 for Rep. Henry Cuellar, Democrat, Texas, but later that year took a job with Minority Whip Dick Durbin, anti-firearm zealot from Illinois, as a press secretary and was later promoted to Deputy Communications Director as Durbin made the transition to the majority with the 2006 election. She remained with Durbin until January, 2009, when she went to work in the Department of Education, then, later, the White House.
So these are Obama's angels, who, with Eric Schultz, are responsible for the press end of the Gunwalker coverup in the White House.
Field of Dreams and The Importance of Being Earnest. Go figure.
7 comments:
Fallen angels cannot be trusted, but I suppose you know that, Mike.
What do you do when the children start breaking things?
You you yank the items out of their hands and paddle their asses.
Only these kids should know better.
When asked if Edwards was suggesting that Clinton was not such a person, she answered, "It's just about restoring the American's faith in their leaders and the leadership they are receiving from their president."
Good grief. Paucity of principle set momentarily aside, I can't tell from this whether Mr. Horowitz, Ms. Bedingfield, or both are functionally illiterate.
Ya'll did catch this gem, right?
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=12406719450&set=o.14911483205&type=1&theater
Yeah, that's her drunk on the floor. How did she get this job again?
Hiring boys and girls to do the job of adults...but this isn't the first time they've done this, so it shouldn't be a shocker.
You think that's bad?
The "twenty-somethings" who run DC often go straight from college to positions in political campaigns and government. With few exceptions, they've never held a real job in their lives, besides maybe work-study.
They INFEST Capitol Hill, like maggots feeding a corpse. They write all of the legislation, while the congresscritter prances in front of the cameras. And this is truly dangerous: they write legislation based on an imperfect understanding of the world, informed by the latest faddish theory, with no eye towards the consequences. They combine the narcissism and cognition of the teenager, the impulse control of a child, and the power to ruin lives and careers with the snap of a finger.
I've seen high-ranking officers, up to and including generals, bossed around by these munchkins. It's pathetic and frightening at the same time: military officers with decades of life and professional experience groveling before a twenty-something KID still attached by umbilical cord to the ivory tower.
There can be no reform of government until such parasites are excised.
Well, here's a thought. In addition to raising the voting age back up as well as any other franchise restrictions we think are appropriate, don't allow campaign workers under oh, say 55 years of age.
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