Well, there’s one way to avert a crisis. The third man in charge of the White House Press Corps, Eric Schultz — he’s the Deputy under Deputy Press Secretary Ben Rhodes, who himself is a Deputy under Josh Earnest — had a bit of a balancing act to do during today’s briefing. As he danced around Hillary’s criticism of the Obama “Don’t Do Stupid Stuff” foreign policy, he also had to deal with a press gaggle that’s hungry to snap photos and video of the supposed “hug it out” moment that will happen between the two former rivals tonight on Martha’s Vineyard. There’s only one problem: the event is a birthday party that “The Most Transparent Administration Eva” is closing off to the press.

Now, the White House can’t honestly expect the media to believe that a hug will indeed take place without any physical evidence…so there’s only one thing left to do: remind reporters that Barry and Hill have shared “many hugs over the past few years.” Sure, I buy that one. Hey, Eric: a choke-hold doesn’t count as an embrace.

That aside, Hug-Gate is of course drawing attention to the fact that Obama is knee-deep in yet another presidential vacation, and he’s relaxing at perhaps the worst time imaginable. But, as Mr. Schultz explains, “there’s never a perfect time” for Barry to have a little Me-Party:

Sure, there may never be a “perfect” time…but there have certainly been better times than this! Iraq blowing up, Israel blowing up, and even an angry Dana Milbank. Yes, the world is ending…and Prezzo is busy making smiley faces in his shaved ice.

The real question: can Hillary manage to “hug” the idiot out of Barack Obama?