Clarke

I found the Clarke reading to have more compelling questions than the State of the Union address, because I felt that it was easier to justify Clarke's "deception" or even argue about whether it was deceptive. Is it deceptive to highlight the positive aspects of an administration and minimize the negative aspects? Clarke defended his actions by claiming he was only doing his job, and when the staff of the president is asked to defend the president, he does so, or loses his job. Is it right for him to lose his job to do the "right thing," and is it even the right thing to put down the administration?

I can understand where Clarke is coming from, and think it applies to most jobs. Any job requires respect for authority and I think it's not only acceptable to highlight the positives, but often wrong not to. In professional situations, it is essential to act professionally and politely. I think it would have been unacceptable in Clarke's position to put down the Bush Administration publicly.

If Clarke had been straightforward about his opinions, I think he would have lost his job as press secretary. One might argue that he should do just this, and face the consequences of being honest. However, this is where Thompson comes into play, and the argument that if you don't do your job someone else will. Is this a good argument in this case? The job description requires a person to put the best face of the administration--someone else is going to do it anyway, and arguably, Clarke had a conscience and felt he was suited for the job. It would have been a risk to let someone else be press secretary. Whoever replaced him would have likely be selected only if they were willing to be publicly supportive of the administration.

Eventually, Clarke did resign, and I would argue that he didn't do the wrong thing per se, but that his decision was almost one of defeat. He became so frustrated with the position that he was unable to maintain it. Dirty hands are inevitable in politics. and perhaps Clarke wasn't able to deal with such a position.