Politics Our Political Asylum Lady Liberty bulldozed, Dancing with the Stars in President Trump’s ballroom—how strange might things get? A hearty cheer could be heard from patriotic citizens longing to restore American greatness when Justice Department lawyers argued last week that the administration could, if need be, “bulldoze” the Statue of Liberty. The argument was made in court proceedings to determine the future of President Donald Trump’s big, beautiful ballroom. Nobody actually wants the Statue of Liberty destroyed at this time, of course, though that could change. The New York Harbor colossus has long been a beacon to the world’s tired, poor, huddled masses blah-blah-blah, but this might not be the best time to encourage even more “wretched refuse” to invade our country.  That construction work on Trump’s $50 billion ballroom was allowed to continue is good news, of course, especially to White House lawyers. Now they can focus on negotiating how the ballroom can be used after completion. Why not make it the permanent home to the long-running and wildly successful reality TV series Dancing with the Stars? A parallel reality in which such an outcome occurred is rather easy to imagine, given the absurdities Americans have lately been subjected to in the spectator sport of politics: Thus far, the negotiations have proven fruitful in ways only the man who pushes a button behind the Resolute Desk to order 15 Diet Cokes each morning might have expected. The Justice Department thinks the Constitution clearly empowers the executive branch to host game shows at the White House. Better yet, past contenders on the celebrity dancing show offer a roster of promising potential admin officials. The death three years ago of the notorious broadcaster Jerry Springer—who had appeared in Season 3—now looks even more untimely. During the Biden interregnum, Springer had been seriously considered by Trump’s team for a number of diplomatic posts requiring the ability to pretend to take others’ problems seriously.  Drew Carey of Season 18, meanwhile, is being talked about as a possible successor to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who has come under suspicion for having spent most of his adult life as a Democrat. Lutnick, it should be remembered, even donated to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, donations he later blamed on his wife. The man isn’t to be trusted, and might need to hear a classic “You’re fired” from the commander-in-chief. As for Carey’s credentials to lead Commerce, he has been the host of The Price is Right since 2007, which, Trump said, “is nothing to laugh at. Who knows more about what things should cost than the host of The Price is Right?” Bill Nye the Science Guy, who appeared on Season 17, is under consideration to lead the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, while Buzz Aldrin of Season 10 is said to be in line to head NASA. “Besides being an astronaut who has walked on the moon,” a White House source who asked not to be identified explains, “Aldrin is 96 years old, has been married four times, admits he has had a face-lift, and is a teetotaler. He’d be a great fit.”  Women are always considered for top spots in this administration, of course. Kim Kardashian of Season 7, for example, is being looked at for a variety of positions. “She’s a nine,” Trump noted during a recent cabinet meeting. “Imagine a true nine as attorney general.” Whatever decisions are made about the ballroom, a White House source said, “it has been agreed that guests entering it will pass by a colossal replica of the Dancing with the Stars Mirrorball Trophy, preferable in so many ways to Lady Liberty’s grossly overrated “golden door” lamp. One condition imposed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio is that Tucker Carlson of Season 3 will not be considered for an official role.  Ok, back to our strange-enough reality. A former CIA flak who used to sit in top-secret meetings with “spies and analysts” has advice for organizations with no connection whatsoever to the agency. Or at least, no connection that we know of. Writing last week at an outlet called Ragan’s PR Daily, Meredith Cavan—a former CIA deputy director of public affairs and the founder of a consulting firm called Brightchord Strategies—says working for the good people who brought us the Bay of Pigs, MKUltra, and the routine use of torture helped her realize there was more to representing the agency than avoiding reporters “like the plague” and saying “no comment” when cornered. Cavan says she learned that “pro-active” engagement with the media was required if the agency’s mission was to be accomplished.  “Journalists were far more likely to give us the benefit of the doubt or tell our side of the story,” she writes, “if we had a relationship where we were seen as straight shooters—forthcoming and helpful on non-sensitive issues.” (Note: It wasn’t that they were straight shooters, but that they were seen as such.) “It was critical to get our narrative out before the outside world shaped and defined it for us,” Cavan recalls. This sometimes involved being “actively engaged with Hollywood to help shape scripts that authentically told our story.” On a more prosaic level, it meant developing congenial relationships with reporters.  The CIA “has a brand,” after all: For better or worse, those three letters are recognized around the world and carry a level of gravitas and lore. We truly leaned into this. While we couldn’t talk about current operations or often the identities of our officers, there were countless stories to tell from our history—tales of bravery, ingenuity, and sacrifice.  So, what’s the takeaway? There’s nothing earth shaking—or regime changing—in any of this, but Cavan wants to remind us that the appearance of transparency and good will is important, even for spooks and the shadowy government agencies that employ them. But cultivating an aura of transparency is itself just a form of manipulative “narrative” management. “At the CIA,” she recalls, “our officers work in an environment where many don’t have access to the outside world during the day—our cellphones are left in our cars, our computers are on an internal network.” Just think. Your company can be more like the CIA, though requiring coworkers to leave their cell phones in their cars might result in unpleasant push-back. If so, discussions should be handled internally. The post Our Political Asylum appeared first on The American Conservative.