So the battle must be joined. McEnany has done her part by helping to transform the previously secular tradition of the White House Press Briefing into a sacred act of Christian Nationalism. She has also provided a glimpse of the forces she believes she is personally up against.
After more than a year of darkness and silence, the lights of the White House Press Briefing Room, without much warning, turned back on. The flat fluorescent light reveals the shadowless theater once again. Once again, video cameras have started to record the dialogue, as the discursive engines rumble back to life. In some ways, everything is the same as it ever was.
Jody Powell. James Brady. Marlin Fitzwater. Dee Dee Meyers. Ari Fleisher. To name a few. All typically deft in directing media attention toward one subject and away from others, setting the terms of journalistic conversation, while also shaping the rhetorical tenor and texture of the country’s business. Bundled into one job title, the press secretary acts as the president’s director of metaphor and plot, scriptwriter, and dramaturg.
