Category Archives: Politics/Law/Government

Komen hires the wrong PR firm, missing the boat once again (and some thoughts on PR Daily’s coverage of the story)

So, the Susan Komen Foundation has hired a big-hitter PR firm. And not just any PR firm, either. Now, Komen is assessing the damage, and it’s using a consulting firm founded by two former Democratic strategists. Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), the firm Komen hired to help determine how badly the crisis hurt its reputation, is founded by former Democratic strategists

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The Mitt Romney, Man of the People® Tour rolls on…

On Friday, in a move aimed at solidifying his American-made bona fides in the heart of domestic auto manufacturing country, GOP candidate Mitt Romney told a crowd that his wife “drives a couple of Cadillacs.” Yep, here’s a man with his finger on the pulse of the working class. Earlier today, EveryMitt struck again – this time south of the

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Heartlandgate, Climategate and pro wrestling ethics

The more I watch modern politics (and economics and the culture wars and science “debates”) the more it all reminds me of pro wrestling. You know how it goes. Tough match, back and forth, both the good guy (the “face”) and the bad guy (the “heel”) getting their licks in, and then at the decisive moment either the heel “accidentally”

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Why America has more education and less to show for it than ever before

I hope you made the time to read Wufnik’s post from Friday. Entitled “Surrounded by people ‘educated far beyond their capacity to undertake analytical thought,’” his analysis of our culture’s “active willingness to be deceived” represents one of the iconic moments in S&R’s history. If you didn’t see it yet, go read it now. In addition to the questions the

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Komen/Planned Parenthood controversy: why haven’t we heard from Komen’s corporate sponsors?

Corporate sponsorship is important for a great many of America’s non-profits, and that’s certainly true of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Of course, any time you strike an alliance with another entity, you can’t help assuming some of their risk. Your partner jumps the tracks, all of a sudden people are looking at you even though you didn’t do anything

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Komen VP resigns; an important first step, but a long road to reconciliation remains

The Komen Foundation VP at the center of the Planned Parenthood firestorm, Karen Handel, has resigned. A few days ago I predicted on Facebook that she’d be gone within a week, but  then retracted the prediction when I learned more about the heavy-Right political leanings of the rest of the board (and the involvement of Ari Fleischer in their strategy

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The Komen “reversal”: a crushing failure of America’s newsrooms

Yesterday I attempted to shed a little light on the PR crisis strategy behind the Komen Foundation’s sudden Planned Parenthood “backtracking.” Contrary to what Komen’s highly-paid PR crisis hacks and gullible headline writers at newsdesks around the nation would ask you to believe, The Susan G. Komen Foundation does NOT promise to fund Planned Parenthood in the future. They promise to let

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Komen Foundation pretends to change its mind. One corporate communications executive wonders: is the public stupid enough to buy it?

Read. The language. Closely. Contrary to what Komen’s highly-paid PR crisis hacks and gullible headline writers at newsdesks around the nation would ask you to believe, The Susan G. Komen Foundation does NOT promise to fund Planned Parenthood in the future. They promise to let PP APPLY for grants in the future. Applying and receiving are different things, as anyone who

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Parents Television Council pitches hissy over the use of the word “fudge” in prime time

Can’t make this stuff up, folks. I mean, you could, but everybody would think you were, well, making stuff up. On tonight’s episode of Modern Family (perhaps TV’s best sitcom), one of the storylines deals with what happens when a young child starts using curse words. One of America’s more prominent gatekeepers of the public morality, the Parents Television council, immediately

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Did Craig James kill five prostitutes? Public debate is essential

As you may have heard, former ESPN football analyst Craig James is running for US senate. James originally rose to national prominence as a star running back for Southern Methodist during the years it was illegally paying athletes under the table, a practice that eventually made SMU the only football program to ever receive the NCAA’s infamous death penalty. Unfortunately for James

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Merry Christmas, Douglas Bruce. And many more.

Readers of this space perhaps know that I have a burr under my saddle where one Douglas Bruce is concerned. For instance: In a post on the University of Colorado’s unconscionable decision to make Bruce Benson its president, I called Bruce a “perennial pigfucker.” Commenting on his censure by the Colorado legislature for an overtly racist attack on migrant workers,

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