The White House is in complete disarray.
To say that it's sending out mixed messages is putting it mildly.
Administration officials, as well as Obama himself, make statements. Those statements are retracted and then they're retracted again.
The administration is flailing around. It can't be trusted to give the public accurate information. I don't have any confidence in what's said because statements are likely to be withdrawn or "clarified."
It's ridiculous.
In a blog post on the White House website, Macon Phillips, the White House director of New Media, addressed the White House's spamming operation.
Phillips writes:
Since the White House’s Reality Check site launched, we’ve seen incredible response from individuals eager to get the facts about health insurance reform and pass them along to family and friends.
An ironic development is that the launch of an online program meant to provide facts about health insurance reform has itself become the target of fear-mongering and online rumors that are the tactics of choice for the defenders of the status quo.
No, no, no.
When will the administration learn?
The Obama administration operates under the assumption that the public will accept whatever it says, that the public will buy the spin.
No. Making up crap won't work.
The unsolicited e-mails that the White House has been sending to Americans, most recently the one from David Axelrod, aren't the stuff of online rumors or fear-mongering. The White House snitch operation is real.
To say that it has something to do with "defenders of the status quo" is nuts. Who are the "defenders of the status quo"? I keep hearing "status quo." When it comes to health care reform, the administration labels opponents as "defenders of the status quo." That's unfair.
As an opponent of ObamaCare, I'm not defending the status quo. I want reform. I just don't want a government-run system. I don't want socialized medicine. If being against socialism means being a defender of the status quo, then count me in.
The issue of the unsolicited e-mails is legitimate. Americans should be concerned. But rather than addressing the matter head-on, this supposedly most transparent White House ever has been very cagey.
Kudos to Major Garrett and FOX News for keeping the pressure on Obama and the administration. Without their dogged determination to get to the bottom of the story, the White House wouldn't have been forced to explain why hundreds and hundreds of private citizens were receiving e-mails from the White House even though they never signed up the messages.
Robert Gibbs kept ignoring the matter, dismissing it, for days.
On Sunday, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro finally released a statement about the unsolicited e-mails.
Basically, the statement didn't take responsibility but instead blamed third parties and online petitions as the source of personal e-mail addresses that became embedded in the White House e-mail list.
There was a half-hearted apology for the "inconvenience."
The statement was inadequate.
Now, there's been more clarification.
Phillips spins the issue. The obfuscation is really a disgrace.
He writes:
Email updates from the White House have played a central role in our effort to push back on misinformation and get the facts out about health insurance reform. These updates will continue to be an important source of information about the President, his priorities and opportunities for public participation.
It has come to our attention that some people may have been subscribed to our email lists without their knowledge –- likely as a result of efforts by outside groups of all political stripes -– and we regret any inconvenience caused by receiving an unexpected message. We’re certainly not interested in anyone receiving emails from the White House who don’t want them. That’s one reason why we have never -- and will never -- add names from a commercial or political list to the White House list.
At the bottom of every message is a link to unsubscribe from emails that anyone can use to avoid this in the future. We have also implemented measures on WhiteHouse.gov to boost the security of the mailing list and we will carefully evaluate signups already received to work toward preventing this problem in the future.
However, it's clear that a lot of Americans appreciate getting updates from the White House and that number continues to grow. Despite reports by some bloggers and others in the media that have invoked a variety of sinister conspiracy theories, more people signed up for updates last week than during the entire month of July.
The Reality Check website exists to inform public debate about health insurance reform – not stifle it. As the President said, "We are bound to disagree, but let’s disagree over issues that are real." To that end, we’ve seen incredible response from website visitors who are using the tools provided on the site to share videos and other content with friends and family.
To better understand what new misinformation is bubbling up online or in other venues, we want your suggestions about topics to address through the Reality Check site. To consolidate the process, the email address set up last week for this same purpose is now closed and all feedback should be sent through: http://www.whitehouse.gov/realitycheck/contact
The White House takes online privacy very seriously. As our published privacy policy makes clear, we will not share personal information submitted through the site with anyone. We also ask that you always refrain from submitting others’ information without permission.
What a load!
What we have here is a case of private individuals finding unsolicited messages from the White House in their e-mail inboxes.
Phillips hides the acknowledgment that the White House has in fact been spamming citizens by raising fear-mongering and online rumors.
Pathetic.
More, from the Associated Press:
After insisting no one was receiving unsolicited e-mails from the White House, officials reversed their story Monday night and blamed outside political groups for the unwanted messages from the tech-savvy operation.
White House online director Macon Phillips said in a blog posting that independent groups — he didn't name them — had signed up their members to receive regular White House updates about Obama's projects, priorities and speeches.
The White House had consistently denied that anyone who hadn't sought the e-mails had received them.
...The quasi-apology came hours after the top Republican on the House's oversight committee, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., asked the White House about its ambitious e-mail plan, which included a message from top political adviser David Axelrod urging support for a health care overhaul.
Issa also asked White House counsel Greg Craig whether officials were collecting names of the president's critics.
"I am concerned about the possibility that political e-mail address lists are being used for official purposes," Issa wrote. "This, again, raises questions about this administration blurring the lines between political and official business."
Issa also wanted to know how, exactly, the White House was using a separate e-mail account designed to track what it called "fishy" claims about its proposed overhaul — an account that was disabled Monday afternoon.
The White House turned to its blog to respond broadly to its critics — without mentioning Issa by name.
...Issa said he wants an answer on how the administration is archiving those e-mails and what protections would be put in place to prevent it from become an enemies list.
In what seemed to be a reply, Phillips indicated there was little chance for cooperation with Issa, a member of a minority political party without significant power.
"The White House takes online privacy very seriously. As our published privacy policy makes clear, we will not share personal information submitted through the site with anyone," he wrote.
Administration officials had been dismissive of complaints that people had received unsolicited e-mail messages or that the administration was compiling an enemies list as conservative Web sites and talk radio programs have alleged.
This is a pattern with the Obama White House.
There's denial. Terms are redefined, and the subject is intentionally twisted. Eventually, there's a clarification.
This isn't transparent. It's dishonest.
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