Elena Kagan's

Non-Interview Interview

 by D. J. Herda

The White House recently posted on its Website a video of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan speaking "in her own words" about her personal history and perspective.  What the site fails to disclose is that "her own words" were in reality the words of the White House.  The interview was conducted not by members of the independent free press but by a White House staffer who produces videos for the administration.

Now, there's nothing inherently wrong or dangerous about electing government officials to office (in this case, Kagan is seeking Senate confirmation for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, a lifetime position), if you happen to live in Cuba or Venezuela or Iran.  Here in the good ol' U. S. of A., however, the concept is blasphemous.

With that in mind, I sat down with the very White House staffer who interviewed Kagan, and I interviewed him, a twenty-six-year-old video and computer production expert on the White House staff.  He chose not to be identified by name.

AmSAW: Mr. X, who conceived the idea for conducting what was, in effect, a closed-loop interview with Ms. Kagan?

Mr. X: The White House decided to take a proactive role in promoting the interview with Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan as a means of most expeditiously making her available to the greatest number of people in the spirit of cooperative government and transparency in a joint cooperative effort that this administration has sought to put forward as its agenda since Day One.

AmSAW: By "joint cooperative effort," I assume you mean by someone higher up in the White House.

Mr. X:  Well, in a way, everyone in Washington is part of this great nation.  We are the representatives of the people, and, as such, the people have a right to expect the best representation that money can buy.

AmSAW: Do you believe in Freedom of the Press?

Mr. X: Freedom of the Press…let's see.  Oh, yes.  Freedom of the Press is something that the president and his staff have honored and cherished in this great nation for more than two years now.  Or one year and some odd months.  It is the very backbone of our society, something that must be guarded and nurtured for this great nation to continue on its course, undeterred.

AmSAW: Can you agree that presenting an interview with a presidential nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court conducted by anyone outside of the free and independent press might well be viewed by the American public as a politically tainted process?

Mr. X: The American public deserves to know the truth, which is why the president had asked the nominee to share her philosophy and personal history with the world.

AmSAW: Are you deliberately avoiding answering my questions directly?

Mr. X: I can only say that an interview with a presidential nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court is in keeping with the president's promise to provide a transparency in the federal government heretofore unknown to this great nation.

AmSAW: I note that, in the White House interview with Ms. Kagan, there were no questions about the nominee's views on abortion, executive power, affirmative action, or any of the other hot-button issues that conservatives and liberals alike would love to hear her address.  Rather, the video is a bland, overly scripted take on a woman who, by all accounts, is warm, funny and engaging.

Mr. X: The White House feels that, only by presenting a true and unbiased picture of Elena Kagan can the public and the Senate get a genuine feeling for her warmth, humor, intellect, and qualifications to be the next Supreme Court Justice of the United States of America.

AmSAW: Thank you, but you didn't answer my question.  Can you tell me why the White House feels a bland, overly scripted interview with a Supreme Court nominee is more effective than an open, unscripted press conference, for example?

Mr. X: It is in keeping with the president's administration and his obvious success in bringing transparency and openness to the White House and to Washington in general that people such as Ms. Kagan have an opportunity to be seen and be heard by the American public.  It is in this spirit of maintaining openness and honesty that...

AmSAW: Wait a minute.  What are you doing there?

Mr. X: What?

AmSAW: Are you reading the answers to my questions from your arm?  You are!  You have a crib sheet on your left arm there.  Hold it up for everyone to see.

Mr. X: It's not a crib sheet.  It's a tattoo from the years that I served in the Seabees during World War II.

AmSAW: You're twenty-six.  How could you possibly have served with the Seabees during World War II?

Mr. X: I'm glad you asked that question, because that's exactly one of the reasons the White House chose to present Ms. Kagan's life and work and political viewpoints to the American public, so that the new transparency in Washington can shine like a glowing beacon through the pages of history.  From that first shot heard round the world to our brave men and women fighting the battle of terrorism in the Middle East, it is freedom and democracy that set this nation apart.

AmSAW: We're not going to get anywhere with this interview today, are we?

Mr. X: I want to thank you for your time and interest and remind each and every one of those brave Americans who have stood up for their country over the years that the elections in 2012 need not be a referendum upon the past successes or failures of any one political party or administration so much as a validation of the greatness of a great people on the march toward greatness.

AmSAW: This interview is over, isn't it?

Mr. X:  Yep.  That was number ten.  I'm fresh out.

And I…am D. J. Herda.

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D. J. Herda is President of the American Society of Authors and Writers (http://amsaw.org), an organization made up of authors, writers, editors, publishers, agents, directors, producers, and other media professionals who rely upon the printed word in the creation of quality literature and entertainment.  He is a member of the Author's Guild, a former member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and a former member of the National Press Club.  He has published more than 80 books and several hundred thousand articles, short stories, columns, interviews, plays, and scripts.
 

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