I get upset when one person doesn’t like me. Imagine millions of people spewing vile in your direction every minute of every day. People who define their life, it seems, by dissecting every word and every move you make so they can find an opening to attack you maliciously and relentlessly. This is American politics today.
Today, as the markets nose dive and economic indicators are grim, and we have a brief respite from the Slasher Debt Crisis, politicians all over America are trying to re-jigger their messages and blame someone else for a lousy economy and a horrible state of public discourse.
Barack Obama ran on the a platform of bringing change to politics in Washington. Now he blames “Washington created” problems that are bedeviling Americans, as if they are outside his control. Even if that’s true, it’s a slippery message platform.
Michelle Obama sent me, and a few million others, an email today asking to sign greetings to her husband for his 50th birthday. Great. I did it, and then was bounced to a message asking for a campaign contribution. The Dow is down 3% today, nearly in free fall. It’s not a good day to ask me for money.
There seems to be a collective shrug when it comes to developing solutions for our problems. Some say “cut up the credit cards.” Others say stimulate the economy. What we get is a hybrid approach that satisfies neither proposition.
What’s my personal prescription for all this doom and gloom? Think of Syria. Think of Libya. Then laugh, loud and often. It could be worse. And it seems like it will be. We could be heading for another recession, before we recover from the last one.
The 
Precisely the minute Barack Obama was sworn is as the 44th President of the United States (noon, Jan 20, 2009), Macon Phillips (left), Director of New Media for the White House, published his first blog post, titled 
Rick Santelli, the over caffeinated CNBC financial pundit. Santelli’s rant on CNBC this week about the unconscionable stimulus for the loser homeowners who are dragging down capitalism with their wasteful ways, hit a nerve like dentist’s drill in a root canal. 
The Obama administration also boosted its ratings because of this episode. Gibbs did not respond to Santelli entirely off the cuff. He periodically peered down as if he was reading message points. His nearly five minute response to Santelli was clear, concise and specific. On a broader scale he was answering all critics of the homeowner mortgage stimulus. Despite a sudden rash of attention, Gibbs neutralized Santelli, who will sound like a hurt kid in the schoolyard desperately vying for attention if he continues this tack.
PR? It’s murder.Can U.S. public relations influence the outcome of a murder trial across the Atlantic? The battle over Amanda Knox, dubbed Italy’s ‘Trial of the Century,’ ramped into high gear last week in a courtroom in Perugia, Italy. This story has it all – a vivacious American coed from University of Washington in Seattle, an alleged drug-fueled orgy that led to a grisly murder, conflicting testimonies and relentless spinning of stories to paint the accused, accomplices, prosecutors and legal authorities in a bad light.
