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Rock Em Sock Em PR Battle Down to Wire

July 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Rock em sock em robotsHarry Reid says the Republicans are trying to put lipstick on the the filibuster. Pow! Boehner says only Obama can get us out of this  financial cul de sac. Bam! Chris Coons, the new Democratic senator from Delaware, noted that there would be a “bouquet of blame” for everyone if Congress and the White House allowed the country to “Titanic” (thanks Maureen Dowd). Zingo!

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says he is now “now fully engaged” in the debt talks (he wasn’t before?). Thud! Someone (who?) is looking for a skylight to the debt ceiling talks – good luck with that.

Don’t these people believe in a summer vacation? I feel for Boehner. A coach of a football team has a clear and unyielding objective. His players line up, follow him, and go out to defeat the opponent. Boehner has half his team running in the other direction, while the Democrats are scattered all over the field trying to tackle them. This should be an interesting Sunday.

Something’s gotta give, something’s gotta give, something’s gotta give…

When an irresistible force such as you
Meets and old immovable object like me
You can bet as sure as you live
Something’s gotta give, something’s gotta give,
Something’s gotta give.

- song by Johnny Mercer, sung impeccably by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, John Boehner, Barack Obama, and many others

Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots by WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot via Flickr

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PR Cliche Train Wreck Ahead

July 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

PR Train WreckThe last train is leaving the station, says Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Train wreck ahead. Let’s not reinvent the wheel at the 11th hour and wave the white flag, says Sarah Palin. Republicans have been bending over backwards. Harry Reid’s door is always open. Our back is against the wall because there is no tomorrow. It’s do or die. Beohner has stuck his neck out a mile – what more can he do? He tried his level best. Compromise is a dirty word to the Republicans, says Obama. Nobody wants to say yes in this town, says Boehner. This is a poker game we all can lose, says Obama.

I don’t know about you but when push comes to shove and it’s time to man up, I’d rather have a discussion that involves adult dialogue rather than goo goo gaa sound bites because mama didn’t raise no fool and I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck.

 

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Daredevil PR Battle Heads Over Cliff

July 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Buffalo Jumping Off the CliffWe’re heading for the cliff. We’re running on fumes. Disaster ahead. Catastrophe. Our standing in the world will be severely diminished and the economy will crumble. We’re playing Russian roulette with the economy.  We’re kicking the can down the road. Irresponsible. Inexcusable.  An abdication of responsibility. A short term band-aid. The Cliches are flying.

These are some of the Armageddon-like predictions emanating from politicians. newscasters, economists and others who are in the middle of or on the sidelines of this debt crisis of our own making.

This is not an act of God, it’s an act of Congress. It would be amusing to watch grownups play this schoolyard game of chicken, if it were not so serious and pathetic. Then there are those who say that it is all a big bluff and we can go on, la-di-da, and deal with the debt ceiling in another week.  Sure, why make a decision now, if we can put if off a while, or drag it out until the holidays.

What’s the fallout from the craziness?

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Are Republicans Rogue Elephants?

July 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Rogue ElephantA New York Times Op-Ed piece today by DavidP. Barash suggests that we look to the behavior of rogue elephants to understand the posturing of Republican zealots intent on getting their way against all logic. The debt ceiling and budget debate is a high-wire public relations drama where an irresistible force meets an immovable object – somehow, someway, sometime something has to give.

It’s also a very public example of getting locked into a position that you can’t back out of. In his last address to the nation, Obama tried to throw Boehner a bone by stressing the importance of compromise and urging voters to call their congressional reps and telling them to cut a deal and be done with it.

No such luck.  Positions have hardened as we get ready to go over the cliff. Good PR is about finding opportunity in adversity, taking the heat when you’re wrong, and finding the positive in even the most troubling situations. We’re attracted to rebels, but not when they can do us real harm.

If this goes on much longer the rating agencies might deduce that we’re an irreparably dysfunctional government that can’t be relied on to pay its bills. Once we’re downgraded we all lose and we have a deeper hole to dig out of. That’s the logical deduction. But this is not a logical fight.

Obama’s ace in the hole is that he can invoke the 14th amendment and raise the debt ceiling on his own. Bill Clinton has said that is something he would do without hesitation “and force the courts to stop me.” That would be a rogue move – maybe the only option given this scenario.

 …. given the Republicans’ continued insistence on an unobtainable wish list of spending cuts and constitutional amendments, it’s fair to conclude that Mr. Obama is facing the political equivalent of an elephant in must — a player who simply won’t play the game. – David P. Barash

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My Fav Ask Obama Twitter Question

July 6, 2011 By 2 Comments

Ask Obama Twitter Question

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PR Makes Me Sick

May 16, 2011 By 1 Comment

You Make Me Sick from pointlessbanter.net“Find out what the client wants and give it to them” – that was the mantra of my ex-boss (mentor?) who was a particular type of PR animal. We were aggressive publicists unencumbered by analysis of the news we were flogging or the real intentions or motivations of the client. The client, really, was beside the point. The point was that if you wanted to keep your job and move up the ladder you better get your client in the news.

Burson’s efforts to discredit Google on behalf of Facebook are not shocking. Bigger PR firms represent countries that kill their own people (Libya) and companies that are complicit in oppression and even murder (Blackwater).  Burson’s sudden attack of morality and conscience in repudiating its actions really makes me sick.

They do not say what their policies on transparency are, or how they would change in the future. A vague ‘PR statement’ is not what is needed here. Who does Burson’s PR? Aren’t they supposed to be specialists in ‘reputation management’? Well, their reputation right now is in the toilet. I would like to hear a full-throated, unencumbered apology and a line-by-line accounting of how they intend to change. Isn’t that what you counsel a client to do? Sometimes, PR makes me sick.

See Sleazy PR Firm Throws Scummy Facebook Under the Sordid Bus in TechCrunch.

Now that Facebook has come forward, we can confirm that we undertook an assignment for that client.

The client requested that its name be withheld on the grounds that it was merely asking to bring publicly available information to light and such information could then be independently and easily replicated by any media.  Any information brought to media attention raised fair questions, was in the public domain, and was in any event for the media to verify through independent sources.

Whatever the rationale, this was not at all standard operating procedure and is against our policies, and the assignment on those terms should have been declined. When talking to the media, we need to adhere to strict standards of transparency about clients, and this incident underscores the absolute importance of that principle. Burson Marsteller Statement

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Twittering Osama

May 2, 2011 By 1 Comment

A media alert went out just before 9:45 PM Eastern Time that the President would “address the nation” at 10:30. But a mere five minutes for the speech started, Keith Urbahn, the chief of staff for the former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, tweeted a bombshell: “So I’m told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.”

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Libya Voices Its Freedom

February 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

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Revolution Central

February 19, 2011 By Leave a Comment
revolution

revolution is now - peaceful

Uprisings in the Middle East are moving too fast, spreading geographically, intensifying, with news streamed live from many places – it’s a Twitter and TwitPic driven news cycle. Media has responded with impressive online sources for on-the-ground and user generated news.  Any added resources will be greatly appreciated.  Echo the news. Break through censors and all attempts to inhibit access to the Internet.

Follow the Mid East Revolution:

The Lede, The New York Times – Constantly updated news on the Middle East uprisings from blogs, Twitter, video, reporters on the ground from multiple sources. Robert Mackey does an incredibly good job at mixing audio, videos, Twitter and blog chatter, other news sources and mobile video like Bambuster (the real tech star of this revolution).


BBC News From the Middle East - Constantly updated with field reports and live video feeds

Listen!

Al Jazeera Middle East – Extensive resources devoted on-the-ground to Middle East uprisings

Babylon & Beyond - Observations on From Iraq, Iran, Israel, the Arab World and Beyond – L.A. Times blog

Human Rights House of Iran – Up to date news portal on the continuing uprising in Iran

bh1.net Bahrain Uprising YouTube Channel

@NickKristof (Twitter stream of Nicholas Kristof) – he’s on the move, in the middle of of it, Tweeting, writing, taking pics and video – he’s got to get another Pulitzer for this.

Nick Kristof’s TwitPics – Who needs AP photo?

LIBYA: @feb17voices Libya Twitter feed |  Libya country profile – BBC

“]A map of 2011 people's uprisings in the "Middle East" Souce: Wikipedia, by Liza Sabater (cc)S-A-Att. Lisa is the founder and lead writer of culturekitchen.com, one of the Top 100 progressive blogs in the U.S. [www.ndnpac.org]

A map of 2011 people's uprisings in the "Middle East" Souce: Wikipedia, by Liza Sabater (cc)S-A-Att. Lisa is the founder and lead writer of culturekitchen.com, one of the Top 100 progressive blogs in the U.S. www.ndnpac.org

PR Blog News

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Libyan forces kill dozens as talks begin in Bahrain (2011-02-19)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libyan security forces shot dead dozens of protesters as they struggled to stamp out a revolt in the second city Benghazi as Bahrain’s rulers began talks with the opposition as unrest continued to sweep the Middle East.

Anti-government demonstrators in Bahrain swarmed into Pearl Square in Manama on Saturday, putting riot police to flight in a striking victory for their cause and confidently setting up camp for a protracted stay.

In Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi, a witness told Reuters snipers had fired at protesters from a fortified compound.

“Dozens were killed … not 15, dozens. We are in the midst of a massacre here,” said the resident, who did not want to be named. The man said he helped take the victims to a local hospital during Saturday’s violence.

The Libyan authorities have not allowed foreign journalists into the country since the protests against Gaddafi erupted, and the witness’ account could not be independently verified.

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Uprisings Spread Through Middle East

February 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A second protester was killed Tuesday when a funeral procession for a protester killed Monday erupted into clashes with Bahraini police, according to local media.

Fadhel Matrook was one of several thousand supporters who joined the funeral procession for Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, who was shot and killed Monday amid widespread protests against government abuse. Police reportedly attacked the procession as crowds of mourners were exiting the hospital. See BAHRAIN: Another killed as funeral for protester devolves into clashes, Los Angeles Times

Michael Slackman of The New York Times reports: “More than 10,000 people streamed into the capital’s central Pearl Square on Tuesday in the largest political protest to hit this Persian Gulf kingdom in recent memory. Galvanized by the death of a demonstrator in clashes with the police on Monday, protesters waved flags and chanted ‘peaceful’ under the square’s towering monument as a police helicopter hovered overhead. Hundreds of protesters also massed on a nearby bridge overpass.”

This video of the protesters setting up camp at Bahrain’s Pearl traffic circle was sent from a blogger’s phone to Bambuser, a Web site that allows users to stream live video from their phones:

Follow the Revolution:

The Lede, The New York Times – Constantly updated news on the Middle East uprisings from blogs, Twitter, video, reporters on the ground from multiple sources

BBC News From the Middle East - Constantly updated with field reports and live video feeds

Al Jazeera Middle East – Extensive resources devoted on-the-ground to Middle East uprisings

Babylon & Beyond - From Iraq, Iran, Israel, the Arab World and Beyond – L.A. Times blog

Human Rights House of Iran – Up to date news portal on the continuing uprising in Iran

bh1.net Bahrain Uprising YouTube Channel


PR Blog News

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