Brad DeLong argues that the Bush Administration Undersecretary should receive an unsatisfactory grade in Undersecretaryship 101:
"...One of the requirements for a satisfactory grade in Undersecretaryship 101 is knowing how to correctly handle being caught in such an impossible position: the president has made a very, very bad decision [with the new budget - Ben], everyone on the outside knows that it is a very, very bad decision, it will have damaging long-run consequences, so how do you react?
Your reaction needs to establish three things:
You are loyal to the president.
You know that the president's decision is insane.
You and your allies are working quietly but intensively on the inside to fix things.
How do you do this? The key is to focus on those parts of what the president says his priorities are that are actually constructive, and to give the wink-wink-nudge-nudge signals to reassure your listeners that you are not lost in the Theta Quadrant. Here are three possible lines Taylor could have taken..."
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