Archive for September, 2008
Ballsy Little Squirrels: McCain Campaign Stumps LiteralMayhem on Ghost Writing Ethics
Thursday, September 25th, 2008One of the more popular posts on this site is one I put up on ghost writing ethics. It’s still getting lots of regular hits even after several months.
But yesterday I saw a posting on Salon about a squirrelly little ghost writing project by the McCain campaign. And I was actually kind of stumped as […]
Financial Crisis for Dummies: Lies, Bailouts, and Hank “Fudgie the Whale” Paulson
Sunday, September 21st, 2008The financial crisis that’s convulsing Wall Street and Washington can be offered up as Exhibit A in what we mean when we say “Literal Mayhem.”
The situation is quite literally mayhem: economically and politically.
But there’s a bigger fish to fry here: what we might call mayhem of the literal.
This crisis is, in many respects, the culmination […]
OK I Lied… One More Political Post, Because It’s Like… an Obesession!
Sunday, September 14th, 2008Always eager to get to the eye of the storm when it comes to spin, I couldn’t help but be curious about the mass mailing of a ferociously scary boogieman video “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West.”
The mailing is a hot topic… Editor & Publisher recently wrote an article called “Delivering Propaganda, As If […]
Lies, Damned Lies, and Spokespeople… Why Do We Even Listen to Them?
Thursday, September 11th, 2008Debated putting this one up. And I promise no more politics. But we in the PR profession often decry our image as liars, when the most high-profile “PR” practitioners (those in the political field) have raised it to a high art form.
And the kind of “lie” I am referring to is not about economic growth, […]
From the Horse’s Mouth… an email from a Palin-loving Feminist; A Measure of the (BIG) Challenge Ahead
Monday, September 8th, 2008What follows here (in red text) is an email written by a middle-age woman from New York City who would have voted for Hillary (”with reservations”), but is now supporting McCain/Palin… for the reasons (or lack thereof) outlined below.
The talking points have all been debunked — e.g., Obama only supports “one or two” energy solutions; […]
Howard Wolfson, Strategic Communicator Floats Non-Sensical Denial Strategy on Palin the Pink Elephant
Monday, September 8th, 2008OK… this is not a political question. It’s a strategic communications question: Where the fuck is Hillary???
In a post on his blog for the New Republic (”The Flack”), Hillary’s former communications director Howard Wolfson sates that Hillary will not get into a “cat fight” with Palin. Huh?
He also states that Obama/Biden will make a mistake […]
The Palin PR Lesson: When Your Narrative Diverges from the Facts, You’re in Trouble
Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008The roasting of McCain and Palin continues. Just this afternoon former GOP strategists (now media commentators) Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy were caught on an “open mic” disparaging the Palin pick.
Murphy calling it “gimmicky” and “cynical.”
Noonan calling it “political bullshit:”
“I think they went for this, excuse me, political bullshit about narratives. Every time the Republicans […]
Vogue En-”Lightens” the World: The Consequences of Flogging Cultural Spin
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008Vogue has caused a bit of a stir with the August issue of Vogue India.
The issue contains a fashion spread with pictures of destitute Indians posed with exorbitantly priced luxury goods, like this child in a $100 bib from Fendi… probably about three months salary for the woman holding him. (Yep… three months salary just […]