All Entries in the "Public Affairs" Category
Today’s Reality: Nothing Is Secret
Washington, D.C., where I am based, is full of consultancies run by former members of Congress or government staffers who sell their connections and supposed clout to just about anyone who hopes to have greater influence before the federal government or in the halls of Congress. It’s influence peddling for a price, and often, their [...]
Truth
The current divisive tone of the presidential campaign – the faceless shouts of racism, hate, and death – is like a vile spreading social disease that could cripple our country faster and with more devastating effect than any terrorism attack. So, this Sunday afternoon, I have been randomly reading famous quotes about Truth. Because truth [...]
Wall-E for President
I was watching CBS Face the Nation this morning and veteran newsman Bob Schieffer who kept using the phrase, “flip-flop,” to describe a politician who seems to change his mind. Schieffer should know better than to repeatedly pick up on such simple-minded politicking jargon. Heck, everyone changes his or her mind. The origins of the [...]
Lack of Straight Answers: The Source
Last night, there was yet another so-called debate of presidential contenders. This one by the Democrats. These staged television events are so common these days and contrived that I wonder whether they might replace all those mindless reality TV shows. When I have watched these “debates,” what I see is a consistent lack of straight [...]
Blackwater Fights Back
I had missed this story from the The New York Times on November 1 about Blackwater, America’s mercenary army in Iraq, hiring influential people in D.C. to help improve the company’s image. Of special note is the fact that Blackwater has used the PR firm of Burson-Marsteller, headed by Mark Penn, who advises Hillary Clinton. [...]
New Media Becomes News
What a pleasure to participate in a panel, along with Jim Brady, executive editor of The Washington Post-dot-com, before communications leaders at the annual conference of the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington. The subject — the rising influence of New Media in the news business. I found it to be so interesting that [...]
FEMA Flap Costs Faker New Job
As the scandal intensifies over last week’s fake FEMA news conference, it appears that the character who was behind it will not be getting a promotion. The media today is reporting that John “Pat” Philbin will not be named head of public affairs for the nation’s top intelligence official, Mike McConnell. If Philbin brought such [...]
Phony Events by Phony PR People
John “Pat” Philbin, the top public affairs guy at FEMA, told CBS News today that he should have stopped a fake FEMA press conference last week when no reporters showed up. No media was present at the briefing simply because Philbin and his FEMA staff staged the phony event with only 15 minutes advance warning [...]
FEMA Stages Fake News Conference
Why am I not surprised?! FEMA or the Federal Emergency Management Agency staged a fake news conference last week for propaganda purposes to brag about how well the beleaguered agency had responded to the fire devastation in south California. FEMA PR people pretended to be reporters and asked fluffy questions in an attempt to make [...]
Debat Update
Reporter Laura Rozen reports the latest in Mother Jones on disgraced terrorism expert-ABC consultant Alexis Debat.
Krugman: Hired Guns
Paul Krugman‘s OpEds in the New York Times are always clear and deliver a powerful message. I think his OpEd from yesterday might be one of his best.
Debat Update: NPR’s On the Media
This is interesting listening — NPR’s On the Media interviews Laura Rozen of MotherJones.org about the latest news on the evolving scandal over credibility involving ABC News and the network’s consultant, Alexis Debat, who has a bogus resume and credentials. In a separate interview on the subject, On the Media Interviewed ABC spokesman Jeffrey Schneider.
Debat: The Lie that Got So Big
There is an interesting update about Alexis Debat – the con artist who conned Washington — by Barry Rubin in Israel Insider. Rubin alleges that Debat threatened to kill him. If Debat was on the payroll of ABC News at the time, it might lend credence to that old adage in the news business, “he’d [...]
A Political Leader with a Clear Voice
Washington, D.C.’s mayor, Adrian Fenty, is an impressive guy. You tend to forget his political affiliation because he is an inspiring leader and sends the message that he works for the people of D.C. rather than playing politics. That’s very unusual in this city. His is a refreshing style of leadership that I hope will [...]
Who Wasn’t Employing Debat?
Alexis Debat, who sold his apparently phony expertise as a “Homeland Security” and “terrorism expert” to ABC News, the Nixon Center and George Washington University, apparently was also getting money from the Pentagon through a defense contractor. This fact and even more on this unbelievable story of the guy who conned an astonishingly gullible Washington [...]
Where is the French “Expert?”
Alexis Debat — now described by Wired as “The French Defense ‘Expert’ Who Snookered Washington” — apparently is maintaining a low profile. I would not be at all surprised to hear that he’s got a movie/book deal. This thing reminds me of “Catch Me If You Can” with Tom Hanks. Really, when you think about [...]
