as a White House Intern...

The 60 Minutes interview of David Kuo last night was embarrassing. Embarrassing because Kuo should know better and embarrassing because the interviewing media should certainly know better. I watched this pathetic interview with incredulity trying to make sense of what a whining former junior staffer at the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives had to say.

I was born and raised in Washington, DC. I went to Catholic church every Sunday as a kid - sat listening to homilies with major politicians and talking heads from both the left and right. I studied at a liberal Episcopal high school and attended an even more liberal university in the north. My only exposure to the Christian right, even after Bush and his constituency took over the capital, was an occasional visit with my distant southern cousins. From my limited experience, I formed an idea of what to expect from the Christian right - kind and carefully thought out words, a humble attitude and speech laced with phrases like "God willing" and "I was so blessed."

In the fall of 2005, I served as a White House intern at the USA Freedom Corps Office, a political office located right next to the Faith-Based office on Lafayette Park. The first few days, all the interns sat through talks by various directors and senior staff. The bottom line of all these lectures was - act respectfully and in accordance with the position of privilege to serve in the White House. One director told us that we would now be appealing subjects for reporters because of our proximity to the West Wing. For some of my fellow interns from the mid-west, Utah, and central Texas, this "Washington Post test" was a totally new thing - so this was an important point to make.

I don't know what parallel universe Kuo occupied during his time at the White House but my limited exposure to the people on every level of the Bush Administration was completely different than his. My colleagues spoke of being "blessed" by good fortune, exclaimed "good NIGHT!" when surprised, showed discretion and a deep understanding that their position at the White House meant they were serving the American people. I was constantly reminded that my colleagues and fellow interns came from a different background than I. For the most part, they came from the Christian right and acted just as I expected they would.

Kuo certainly does not exhibit the behavior I witnessed in my semester at the White House. He does not exhibit the humility and discretion I found in those I worked with. 60 Minutes leaped at the story of one of hundreds and hundreds of people who have served this administration - most of whom have known better than Kuo. His book(though perhaps not his moral fiber) ranks with that of Jessica Cutler who wrote Washintonienne - a steamy best seller based on her explicit blogs. Both he and Cutler did the easy thing, made their 15 minutes of fame by depending on their Washington insider advantage.

In Kuo's case, not only do I find him totally reprehensible for playing into the hands of a media eager to say ANYTHING bad about the Bush White House, even if it is contradictory (they're in bed with the Christian right, they mock the Christian right... blah blah blah) but I found him out to lunch in his observations.