You can recognize a pathological or compulsive liar because they will lie about even the smallest and meaningless events.  Is the same true for political revisionists?

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is the front man for the White House.  Spinning and covering for political leaders comes with the territory, and for Gibbs it seems that the need to revise history has apparently become so ingrained that he does it reflexively, even on the most irrelevant of issues.

On June 23 the White House, via the Office of Press Secretary (Gibbs’ office), issued a routine announcement regarding a future presidential trip.  On July 14, the President is scheduled to travel to Michigan and Missouri.  The release stated, “President Obama will hold a town hall meeting in the Detroit area in Michigan.”  Numerous local articles cited this upcoming town hall event.

At some point in the last few days, the plan was changed and the town hall was replaced with a presidential speech.  No big deal there, as plans change all the time.  At today’s press briefing, the speech briefly came up.  When asked about whether it was a town hall or speech, and why it was changed, Gibbs fell back into the usual routine of covering for the boss.

MR. GIBBS:  … So one of the things that he’ll discuss tomorrow is a plan to see that more to fruition as it relates to our community colleges up in Michigan.

Q    Is this a speech, it’s not a Q&A or town hall or –

MR. GIBBS:  I think it’s just a speech.

Q    It was supposed to be a town hall and just got changed?

MR. GIBBS:  I’ve always seen it as a speech.

There is no logical reason why Gibbs would need to cover here.  The issue doesn’t matter.  Simply say that it was changed and move on.  Yet he insisted in claiming that it’s always been a speech, despite being contradicted by the proclamations of his own office. Either he’s lying or has admitted to a gross level of incompetence.

For those who read 1984, this revisionism of convenience should be familiar, as the Ministry of Truth was tasked with constantly rectifying old records to conform with whatever Big Brother had most recently proclaimed.  If Gibbs sees fit to spin and revise on the most insignificant of issues, what do you think he’ll do when the White House has something on the line?

We never committed to hold bills for 5 days and post them online before signing.

We were never going to stop all lobbyists from joining our administration.

I’ve always seen it as a speech.

Compulsive? You decide.

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