She’s a sneaky one, isn’t she?
I don’t think anyone can argue it was probably one of the most successful first years in office …
That’s White House spokeman Sarah Huckabee Sanders … and what does she mean by that statement? Out of context, it’s actually quite ambiguous. I’d go so far as to argue that she’s telling the truth – the Trump Administration had a perfectly awful first year, probably the worst in history, and she’s saying, Well, it wasn’t a great year….
Of course, the context does give the lie to my interpretation:
The President is extremely proud of the accomplishments we had during 2017. I don’t think anyone can argue it was probably one of the most successful first years in office: Passed major legislation, reworked the court system, and got a Supreme Court justice nominated and approved and on the bench in the first year; a booming economy; massive gains against the war on ISIS. I think we’ve had an extremely successful 2017, and some of that is due to the relationship-building that he was able to do there.
Clearly, she thinks, or wants us to think, that it’s been an exemplary year.
And, yet, I remain fascinated with the ambiguity of the statement. It’s emblematic of an Administration desperately scrabbling to simply remain in office in the face of tremendous failures, tangible and intangible.
It’s as if she’s decided to become an actual symbol of cognitive dissonance through the use of one simple statement. I halfway expect her head to explode, leaving only the remnants of her Christian upbringing, a smoking ruin, for us to marvel at in horror.
