Now, Odwyerpr.com has disclosed that The Livingston Group is being paid $750,000 a year to help build goodwill in Washington for the country of Libya, a haven for terrorists, that’s run by the dictator, Col. Muammar Gaddafi.  According to O’Dwyer, The Livingston Group “wants to help Libya reduce airport hassles by U.S. Transportation Security Administration screeners, celebrate the 40th anniversary of Col. Gaddafi’s takeover, craft a corporate responsibility program, educate American military contractors about opportunities available, and develop history- and eco-tourism, according to a document obtained by a Libyan opposition group.”

How does O’Dwyer know all this? Because Livingston’s 42-page PR plan to promote the image of Libya, marked “confidential” is now online for anyone to read. It is posted in Arabic and English on the website of the National Conference of the Libyan Opposition. Just click here to read the plan.

In the executive summary, Livingston advises Gaddafi and Libya -

“The end of the Bush administration also requires thinking and acting tactically and opportunistically in terms of what can be accomplished over these next six months.”

Wonder how such a boast will be greeted within the Obama administration?

One thing is for certain – in today’s online world, nothing is secret. Nothing.

By the way, I contacted The Livingston Group for comment. They did not return my call.

I found this quote from the early 20th century philosopher Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno that seems timely:

Let us talk sense to the American people. Let us tell them the truth, that there are not gains without pains.

Aesop said, centuries ago:

Don’t let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does, the truth — don’t let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency.

Henri-Frederic Amiel said:

A lively, disinterested, persistent looking for truth is extraordinarily rare. Action and faith enslave thought, both of them in order not to be troubled or inconvenienced by reflection, criticism or doubt.

Baha’u'llah, Prophet and Founder of the Baha’i Faith, said:

Fair speech and truthfulness, by reason of their lofty rank and position, are regarded as a sun shining above the horizon of knowledge.

The origins of the current usage of the phrase came out of the 2004 presidential race when it was hung on John Kerry, and he fell for the ruse. The media picked it up and has run with it ever since, certainly in a “copy-cat” style.

My point is that today’s media gets caught up in these astonishingly stupid catch-phrases and jargon, which are designed to manipulate and distract them from real issues … and the media falls for it, again and again, as if they have a microphone but not a brain.  But, then, many in the media today are more focused on their own fame and fortune than ferreting out news, and that includes being cozy with power brokers at the detriment of objectivity.

I highly recommend reading today’s column by John Rich of The New York Times.  If the media and many of the rest of us cannot focus on real issues, then let’s elect Wall-E president.

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 answers from the candidates, and they spend much of their time reacting to each other. Consequently, there is little differentiation among candidates. No one shines out. The public sees a gaggle of politicians yet … no authentic leader. I have an idea about why that is — their advisors.

A couple of hours before last night’s latest debate-TV-dance-with-the-candidates, long-time Democratic candidate advisor Joe Trippi appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. Trippi is one of those political advisors who generally represents candidates like Howard Dean, and today works for John Edwards.

Matthews asked Trippi the same question four (4) times in what became a questioning marathon by Matthews designed solely to try to get a straight answer from Trippi. Clearly, it was beyond Trippi’s ability to utter a straight answer. Finally, Matthews laughed in frustration, gave up and got Trippi off the air.

And, then … we wonder what’s wrong with politics? I think the consultants are restricting any chance for an authentic leader to emerge, regardless of political party. And, an authentic leader is what this nation needs today.

Of special note is the fact that Blackwater has used the PR firm of Burson-Marsteller, headed by Mark Penn, who advises Hillary Clinton. Penn, however, claims the Blackwater work was landed by the political consulting firm of BKSH. BKSH is owned by Burson-Marsteller, so Penn cannot honestly wash his hands of this one.

By the way, for a chuckle, check out Burson-Marsteller’s home page for the automatic streaming video (it’s called a “sprite”) of a woman who explains the firm’s capabilities, leaving no overused and trite cliché unspoken.

I found it to be so interesting that Jim and I share an enthusiasm for the potential of Facebook as a social networking tool not only among friends and colleagues but between PR professionals and journalists. Afterward, he and I returned to our respective offices and became Facebook friends. Facebook is one of the best networking sites around.

If Philbin brought such disgrace to the reputation of FEMA — a government agency still reeling from its poor handling of the Katrina crisis two years ago — what damage might he cause in the intelligence world?!

Meanwhile, satirical blogs and Web sites are having a field day with the story, referring to the former head of FEMA public affairs as “Pravda” Philbin or announcing, with tongue in cheek, that he will be named White House spokesman.

Philbin now say he feels terrible about what happened. He should feel shame. In fact, he should have gotten fired for his stunt.

How do such characters … lacking in solid public affairs and communications credentials … land such jobs in Washington? Maybe they are well-suited in this city where lack of accountability has become the norm.

It should be underscored that experienced and honest communications and public affairs professionals would have known not to have staged such a bogus event in the first place. 

TIME magazine reports that Ogilvy public relations is behind helping FEMA to stage fake news events. Flacks helping flacks.

What they all did is dishonest, unethical and just plain not right, contributing further to the already damaged reputation of the agency. What were they thinking?! Probably nothing.

Maybe the lesson is this … when working with the media, it is important to be open and transparent. It helps to behave properly.