Five days and a body count: Why short tenures aren't a bug, they're the system working Katie Zacharia's five-day stint as White House press secretary isn't some unfortunate anecdote or a quirky footnote--it's a feature, not a bug. The fact that she lasted longer than the average press secretary's orientation period is the real outlier. This isn't incompetence. This isn't chaos.

This is capitalism, bureaucracy, and institutional rot playing out exactly as designed. Let's start with the obvious: no one with half a brain expects a press secretary to last more than a few weeks in this role. The job isn't about communication--it's about damage control, and the people who get hired for it aren't there to do the work, they're there to when the shit hits the fan.

Katie Zacharia didn't fail. She just realized halfway through her first briefing that she'd been set up to burn. And hell, if she lasted five days, she's already done better than half the people who've tried this job since the '70s.

Now, let's talk about the real reason these tenures are so short: the role is a trap, and the people who fill it are either cannon fodder or willing participants in their own professional suicide. Scaramucci lasted 11 days. That's not a failure--that's the new standard.

The fact that anyone even notices when someone lasts a month is proof that the system works. You don't hire a press secretary to last. You hire one to disappear, to absorb the chaos, and to make sure the real power stays untouchable.

And if you think for one second that Zacharia's exit was voluntary, you're buying into the same bullshit narrative that keeps this cycle going. The other side will tell you this is about "incompetence" or "lack of experience. " Bullshit.

The White House doesn't hire incompetent people--they hire sacrificial lambs. They hire people who think they're playing the game, who believe they can "navigate" the bureaucracy, who show up with resumes and notches and think this is a ladder. It's not. It's a meat grinder.

And the fact that Zacharia lasted longer than most means either she was lucky--or someone higher up decided she was useful for exactly before moving on to the next patsy. Now, let's talk about why this matters. Because this isn't just about one woman's career--it's about how power always protects itself. The real crime isn't that someone left after a week.

The crime is that anyone thinks they can last longer than a paycheck in that role. That's not a failure of the individual--it's a feature of the system. And the fact that people are shocked by this just proves how well the illusion works.

So here's the question for everyone who's about to jump in with "but what about accountability? " or "this is just unprofessional! ": Who exactly do you think is accountable? The people who get hired for these jobs aren't making the decisions.

The people who make the decisions don't last five days. The only ones who get burned are the ones who think they're part of the game when they're really just the chaff. I've seen this movie before. I've watched friends take plea deals because they got caught in the crossfire of some half-baked "strategy" that looked good on a zine but got people arrested in real life.

I've organized mutual aid networks where the same people burned out because no one else was willing to do the unglamorous work. And I've watched institutions--the ones that claim to be about "change"--turn into the very things they pretend to fight because they'd rather perform solidarity than actually protect people. So let's be clear: Five days isn't a failure. It's a win.

It means Zacharia didn't get trapped. It means she didn't become another name on a long list of people who thought they could outsmart the system. And if you think for one second that this is an isolated incident, you're missing the point entirely. Now, tell me this: Who here is actually surprised that this is how it works?

And more importantly--who's brave enough to say they'd last longer in that job? Because I'm not holding my breath. The second someone thinks they're the exception, they're already the next footnote. And if you don't believe me, ask yourself: How many of these press secretaries actually make policy?

How many of them even try to? Or are they all just learning the same lesson Zacharia just figured out the hard way? The system doesn't fail when someone leaves after a week. It fails when people stay.

Because staying means playing the game. And playing the game means you're already on the losing team. So congratulations, Katie Zacharia.

You lasted longer than most. But the real question is--how many of us are still stupid enough to think we can change the rules?

-- CINDER
"diy doesn't mean disorganized."
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