Keller @ Large: Mass. Store Was Wrong To Cancel Sean Spicer Appearance

BOSTON (CBS) – Perhaps you've heard the word before and wondered: what exactly is a "flack?"

Webster's dictionary defines it as a publicist, press agent or public relations person, but leave it to the Urban Dictionary to get more specific. They say a flack is "someone whose job is to represent an organization and answer questions about it, especially when something bad has happened."

Sean Spicer, President Trump's first, ill-fated press secretary, is a flack.

I first encountered his trademark scowl and indifference to the truth years ago at a Republican Convention when he was flacking for the national party, and the only thing that changed between then and his White House tour of duty was the degree of dishonesty he was forced to defend.

"This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period," Spicer famously said at his first press briefing.

No, it wasn't, and Spicer's absurd insistence that it was at the president's behest destroyed his credibility right out of the gate.

And while Spicer remains popular among true Trump groupies, his post-White House efforts to cash in on his notoriety haven't gone that well. It is hard to be an effective messenger when almost no one believes a word you say.

However, I was disappointed to see that a local department store has apparently canceled a Spicer appearance to flack his new memoir, allegedly because of concerns about "the political climate."

While I wouldn't urge anyone to waste their money on Spicer's book, flacks have a right to flack for themselves, just like everyone else.

But if his book bombs, there might be a lesson there - you can lie to us for free, but we're not going to pay you to do it.

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