King of the Pond

Awk, a puff piece on Robert Gibbs. Tribune:

Some afternoons in the West Wing, as he wonders how best to convey the White House's messages about an economic downturn, financial calamity, job loss and some of the toughest foreign policy challenges of a generation, Robert Gibbs finds himself thinking about a turtle named Yertle.

In the back of his mind, the press secretary to President Barack Obama is trying to figure out if he can get home for story time with his 5-year-old son, Ethan, whose book of choice is frequently the Dr. Seuss classic about the king of the pond.

"You really have to plan your time," Gibbs said one late afternoon, his eyes darting from his computer screen to his caller ID to the television set on his desk. "There are some times when you can actually pull it off, if you can just spot when you've stopped being productive."

Has Gibbs figured out the moral of the story? OK, enough of this. I'm going to have an adult beverage.