Posted by
Xavier Cougat on Monday, March 02, 2009 4:25:00 PM
Once again, Barack Obama represents an historic first, having accomplished something entirely unprecedented. Generally, it takes several months, if not years—even, retroactively, decades—for an administration’s policies to be distilled into a “doctrine”. Furthermore, it is usually the sitting president’s name—and not the name of a White House spokesperson—that is attached to such a doctrine. (For example, the Monroe Doctrine or the Bush Doctrine.)
Yet, within a mere three weeks of His historic inauguration, a revolutionary new doctrinal stance with broad implications has emerged from the confines of the Obama White House and is now formally being enshrined as the “Gibbs Doctrine”, a political and, possibly, geopolitical formula stated most simply as, “nobody’s perfect”.
The Gibbs Doctrine (named after White House obfuscator, Robert Gibbs) was condensed out of the swirling cauldron of controversy surrounding the nomination of Tom Daschle to head the Health and Human Services Department after it was discovered that the former Senate Majority leader avoided paying well over $100,000 in back taxes. In response to a rare, hard-hitting question from an actual journalist, press secretary Gibbs countered tersely with a strong, decisive retort: nobody’s perfect. Touché.
Already the Gibbs Doctrine is creating consternation among legal scholars who see it as a seismic shift in thinking that could undermine the very integrity of American jurisprudence. Thousands of convicted and incarcerated criminals have already filed appeals, hoping that the Gibbs “defense” will carry the day in a new trial: Sure, I offed my old lady; but, hey, nobody’s perfect, right?
There may be disturbing implications for foreign affairs and national security matters as well if the Gibbs Doctrine is extended into the realm of world politics:
Breaking news … Tehran has successfully nuked what used to be known as Tel Aviv.
Jake Tapper of ABC: What will be the president’s response to this unconscionable act of terrorism?
Robert Gibbs: Well, first of all, Jake, let me remind you that this administration refrains from using any term so loaded as “terrorism”. That said, President Obama strongly condemns this breach of international law but would hasten to add that nobody’s perfect.
As with all things Democratic, there’s irony here. The Gibbs Doctrine would seem to contradict a hallowed tenet of the Left, that people are perfectible (if not perfect) and, instead, appears to uphold the conservative postulate that human nature is bent toward wrong-doing and needs to be tempered by traditions, cultural institutions (like the family and schools), laws and, yes, even that evil of all evils, religion. After all, nobody’s perfect.