By Colleen O’Connor
Sean Spicer’s name will be remembered and written about long after Trump churns through more staff with his Celebrity Apprentice trademark bark: “You’re Fired.”
Indeed, Spicer’s short tenure and abrupt (forced) resignation will become a metaphor for the Trump administration’s practice of chaos governing.
However, Spicer could wind up with the last laugh—and not just from the millions of viewers who expressed astonishment at the world being declared round again—but, because he tried.
Spicer tried really hard to spin the unspinable and defend the indefensible. He wanted to do his job, but failed to realize that his slightly askew tie and unacceptable best blue suit (“doesn’t he own a dark suit,” complained the President) would grease the skids towards the exit ramp.
His inability to lie with abandon and fake sincerity also earned him demerits. He couldn’t find his bearings in a category 5 hurricane with “alternative facts” for a compass. He shipwrecked early on.
No American press secretary can do verbal Chinese contortionist tricks without embarrassing failures. And Spicer’s attempts are now legendary. And hilarious. And sad.
Defending the President’s inaugural crowd size (Trump’s was bigger than Obama’s), the 10+ million illegals who voted—without which Trump actually won the popular vote, or the 400+ other lies that Trump stated in his first six month’s time cost Spicer his credibility dearly. This wasn’t spin. This was Olympian caliber nonsense.
But, even more damaging to Spicer’s tenure were those weekly Saturday Night Live skits starring Melissa McCarthy. Not just because they were funny. Or because they portrayed him in an unflattering light and attracted the most fans in over seven years: “Just under 11 million views per episode.”
Rather, the SNL skits damned Spicer precisely because he cut into the President’s fame. A shadow, a partial eclipse, a popular distraction needed to be removed. Spicer had to go.
Taking any limelight from this President is a mortal sin—and no amount of prayers can forgive that.
Laughter started to trump the lies. That was the root of Spicer’s unpardonable sin. He became an SNL star. Not a presidential puppet.
Even the President’s statement—on news of Spicer’s departure—remarked on those “great television ratings.”
Whatever one thinks of Spicer’s deficiencies as a press secretary, he did epitomize the regular guy trying his best.
And, that regular guy can still win “bigly.” He can have the last laugh. A really big and profitable laugh.
Spicer could sign a book deal—with an enormous advance—and provide a burlesque, vaudeville spoof of the Trump administration. The plot might weave around their tortured familiarity with the truth. The cast of characters could rival any Shakespearean farce. And the audience could be even bigger than SNL.
Think about it. Just the possible titles: “The Real Twilight Zone.” “Fake News by Sean Spicer.” “Power Dressing for Dummies.” Or “My Saturday Nights Live With Melisa McCarthy.” And, “What the President Didn’t Know and When He Didn’t Know It.”
Then the play, the movie, the theme park at Disney. What a real “life after death” story Spicer could tell.
Go for it, Spicer. The country needs you. Humor or truth or both.
Colleen O’Connor is a native San Diegan and a retired college professor.
