Marketing

20080904
Sarah Palin - John McCain - Marketing - Media - 2008 Election - US - Foreign
"No Questions, Please. We'll Tell You What You Need To Know." ... "According to Nicole Wallace of the [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain campaign, the American people don't care whether [2008 Election Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin can answer specific questions about foreign and domestic policy. According to Wallace -- in an appearance I did with her this morning on Joe Scarborough's show -- the American people will learn all they need to know (and all they deserve to know) from Palin's scripted speeches and choreographed appearances on the campaign trail and in campaign ads." [ WATCH the discussion] ... "Wallace's bash-the-media exercise has its merits as a campaign tactic. It certainly rallies the base. But the base won't lift McCain to 50% in November. More importantly, in her smug dismissal of the media's role in asking questions of the candidates, Wallace was really showing contempt not for reporters, but for voters." -By Jay Carney -Time-Blog.com 

---

20080902
John McCain - Military - Politics - Ads - US - Vietnam - History - 2008 Election
Watch - "Former POW says McCain is "not cut out to be President"." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain has been exploiting his prisoner of war experience every chance he gets. He has used this story to justify everything from not knowing how many homes he has to his healthcare plan to his marital infidelities to his taste in music. The McCain campaign is even using his POW story in paid ads. But now a veteran who was a prisoner with McCain in Vietnam is explaining loud and clear that being a POW does not qualify McCain to lead our country." ... "We are sure this video will draw an onslaught of right-wing attacks, but we bring it to you because it is our job to continue to convey the truth together and give these issues national attention. As Dr. Butler has said, McCain does not have the temperament to have his finger near the red button. Get this video to everyone you know—friends, family members, coworkers, and especially those who don't share your political views. The video is designed to reach them. Get it on your social networking sites like Digg. And get it to every blog, newspaper, and TV station that has ever overplayed McCain's POW story. It is time to fight back with truth!" ... "The mainstream press has already begun to call out McCain for overusing his POW story. And it's cut across all political persuasions. * "Whether he's deflecting criticism over his health-care plan or mocking a tribute to the Woodstock music festival, Senator John McCain has a trump card: the Hanoi Hilton. — Edwin Chen, Bloomberg * "Noun, Verb, POW" — Andrew Sullivan, The Atlantic Monthly * "The McCain campaign's constant invocation of the candidate's POW past is weird bordering on irrational..." — Ana Marie Cox, TIME * "I think they are going to it way too many times." — Howard Fineman, Newsweek" ... "Remember how Joe Biden got the press to refer to Rudy Giuliani as "A noun, a verb, and 9/11"? Well, let's actually take Andrew Sullivan's lead here and get the media to boil McCain down to a similar phrase: "A noun, a verb, and POW." Considering how often the McCain campaign invokes his POW story, isn't that what they're already doing?" -BraveNewPac -BraveNewFilms.org

---

20080829
Sarah Palin - Ted Stevens - Political - Ad - 2006 Election - 2008 Election - Alaska
"Palin Ad Starring Ted Stevens Already Scrubbed From Palin's Campaign Website." ... "This morning, an ad from [2008 Election Republican Vice Presidential Candidate] Sarah Palin's 2006 [Election for Alaska's Governor] gubernatorial campaign featuring an endorsement from scandal-plagued Alaska [Republican] Senator Ted Stevens was available on Palin's campaign Web site." ... "...but now the Stevens ad has already been scrubbed." ... "Luckily, the ad featuring Stevens and Palin is still available for your viewing pleasure!" -By Greg Sargent -TPMElectionCentral .TalkingPointsMemo

---

WATCH: "Stevens Endorses Palin for Governor."

---

20080812
Barack Obama - John McCain - Racist - Political - Ads - 2008 Election
"Missing the Point of McCain's Ads." ... "I've gotta disagree with Markos and Josh Marshall on this one. [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate John] McCain's new "hot chicks dig Obama" ad is not intended to be a racist dog-whistle. If it was, they would have put more effort into it and they'd be playing it in heavy circulation in the South. Instead, the ad is a hastily thrown together, low-budget web ad that only political junkies like Markos and Josh are likely to bother watching." ... "In other words, this particular dog-whistle isn't directed at racists; it's directed at liberals. The McCain camp knows that all they have to do is put a few young white women in an anti-Obama ad (even one they don't intend to air), and [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack] Obama's liberal defenders will instantly flip out and accuse them of being racists. That then gives them the opportunity to, once again, play the role of the victim and accuse Obama and his defenders of "playing the race card." Wash. Rinse. Repeat." ... "The McCain camp knows that whenever the discussion turns to race, it's a bad day for Obama, so they are deliberately trying to bait Obama's supporters into making accusations of racism. They're [McCain's campaign are] trying to stoke white racial resentment indirectly by setting themselves up as the falsely accused." -AnonymousLiberal.com

---

20080805
Government - Intelligence - Secretly - Marketing - Media - Opinion - Noteworthy - Military - Terrorism - Political - History - Book - US - Iraq
"Book says White House ordered forgery." ... "A new book by the author Ron Suskind claims that the White House ordered the CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] to forge a back-dated, handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein." ... "Suskind writes in “The Way of the World,” to be published Tuesday, that the alleged forgery – adamantly denied by the White House – was designed to portray a false link between Hussein’s regime and al Qaeda as a justification for the Iraq war." ... "Suskind writes in his new book that the order to create the letter was written on “creamy White House stationery.” The book suggests that the letter was subsequently created by the CIA and delivered to Iraq, but does not say how." ... "The author claims that such an operation, part of “false pretenses” for war, would apparently constitute illegal White House use of the CIA to influence a domestic audience, an arguably impeachable offense." ... "Suskind writes that the White House had “ignored the Iraq intelligence chief’s accurate disclosure that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq – intelligence they received in plenty of time to stop an invasion." ... "“They secretly resettled him in Jordan, paid him $5 million – which one could argue was hush money – and then used his captive status to help deceive the world about one of the era’s most crushing truths: that America had gone to war under false pretenses,” the book says." ... "Suskind writes that the forgery “operation created by the White House and passed to the CIA seems inconsistent with” a statute saying the CIA may not conduct covert operations “intended to influence United States political processes, public opinion, policies or media.”" ... "“It is not the sort of offense, such as assault or burglary, that carries specific penalties, for example, a fine or jail time,” Suskind writes. “It is much broader than that. It pertains to the White House’s knowingly misusing an arm of government, the sort of thing generally taken up in impeachment proceedings.”" -By Mike Allen -Politico.com

---

20080703
John McCain - Carl H Lindner Jr - BobPerry -  - Money - Politics - Accounting - Marketing - 2004 Election - 2008 Election - Texas - Ohio - Arizona - Illinois - Obama
"McCain Allies Find Finance-Law Holes: Governors' Fund Recruits Big Donors; Bid to Catch Obama." ... "Allies of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain have found new loopholes in the campaign-finance law he helped write -- and they're using them to reel in huge contributions to help him compete with [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois Senator] Sen. Barack Obama." ... "In one method, a Republican Party fund aimed at electing governors has started marketing itself as a home for contributions of unlimited size to help Sen. McCain. His 2002 campaign law limits donations to presidential races to try to curtail the influence of wealth." ... "The Republican Governors Association isn't subject to those limits, and has long gathered up large donations from individuals and companies. Now it is telling donors it can use their contributions to benefit Sen. McCain in some key battleground states." ... "Altogether, individuals can give $108,000 to federal campaigns within each two-year election cycle." ... "Donors with deep pockets also can avoid limits completely by contributing to groups called 527 organizations, after a provision in the tax code." ... "The [Republican] governors group counts a number of large corporations among its donors, including WellPoint Inc. [Incorporated] at $200,000, and Pfizer Inc. [Incorporated], Bank of America Corp. [Corporation] and Travelers Cos. [Companies] at $150,000 or more." ... "Texas developer Bob Perry, the largest financial backer of the Swift Boat group [that attacked the military service of 2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate John Kerry], also is the largest individual donor to the governors group, at $250,000. Carl Lindner, a retired insurance executive in Ohio and another top Swift Boat financier, has contributed $100,000 to the governors' fund. The campaign-finance lawyer for the Swift Boat group in 2004 now serves the same role for the governors association." ... "In another Republican strategy, the McCain campaign itself last month began soliciting its biggest donations yet -- up to $70,100 per check." -By Brody Mullins and T.W. Farnam -WSJ.com

---

20080630
John McCain - Bud Day - 2004 Election - Ads - Military - History - Vietnam - US - Arizona - Massachusetts - 2008 Election
"McCain Uses Swift Boat Vet Bud Day To Rebut Wesley Clark." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator] Sen. John McCain's campaign on Monday launched the McCain "Truth Squad" - a group of political and Vietnam contemporaries who would counter attacks on the Senator's military record." ... "In hopes of nipping any criticism in the bud, the campaign brought on board a man quite familiar with how these types of attacks gain legs: Bud Day, a fellow POW who was part of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that worked so hard to defame [2004 Election Presidential Candidate and Massachusetts Democratic Senator] Sen. John Kerry's own Vietnam record." ... "On the conference call, Day - in addition to the other participants - decried comments made by [General] Gen. Wesley Clark over the weekend, in which he questioned whether McCain's war experience really qualified him to be commander-in-chief. Defending McCain's service, Day was quick to personalize his remarks, attacking Clark's military record in the process." ... "That Day would politicize Vietnam in his defense of McCain is not surprising. During the 2004 campaign, he said of Kerry: "My view is he basically will go down in history sometime as the Benedict Arnold of 1971." And after appearing in a national advertisement for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign, Day formed the Vietnam Veterans Legacy Foundation, an extension of the Swift Boat effort." ... "Not willing to let the irony go unnoticed, Kerry lashed out at McCain, on Monday, for using the same smear merchant he once decried." ... ""Colonel Day's comments today only further highlight the McCain campaign's disregard for a new kind of politics," said Kerry. "John McCain condemned these kinds of attacks in 2004 when he called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth 'dishonest and dishonorable.' Senator McCain should condemn these remarks and cut ties with the Colonel and anyone else connected to SBVT. Day's comments only serve to disparage all those who served on swift boats in Vietnam."" -By Sam Stein -HuffingtonPost.com

---


John McCain - Bud Day - 2004 Election - Ads - Military - US - 2008 Election
"McCain Truth Squad defender was Swift Boat Vet member." ... "One of the members of [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain’s new Truth Squad — which his campaign says was launched to respond to unfair attacks on his record of military service –- was a member of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and appeared in an attack ad for the group in 2004." ... "The group was created to attack 2004 [Election Presidential] Democratic nominee John Kerry’s military service record." -By Rebecca Sinderbrand -CNN

---


John McCain - Bud Day - Politics - 2004 Election - Ads -Military - History - Vietnam - Belgium - US - Massachusetts - Texas - Missouri - 2008 Election
"Price of Power: McCain accepts ex-Swift Boaters' donations." ... "Republican [2008 Election Presidential Candidate] John McCain, who four years ago condemned independent ads challenging Democrat[ic Senator from Massachusetts and 2004 Election Presidential Candidate] John Kerry's military record, has accepted nearly $70,000 for his presidential campaign from the top donors of the group behind the attack ads and their relatives, a USA TODAY analysis shows." ... "In 2004, the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (later called SwiftVets and POWS for Truth) bankrolled ads charging that Kerry had lied about the incidents in Vietnam that led to his military decorations. The group included former members of the Navy who served in the same kind of river patrol boats as Kerry. McCain, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, called the group's advertising "dishonest and dishonorable."" ... "Bob Perry, a Texas builder who gave nearly $4.5 million to Swift Boat Vets, and his wife, Doylene, each have given $4,400 to McCain's presidential campaign, some of which went to an account for legal and accounting expenses, records show." ... "Other donors include Sam Fox, a St. Louis [Missouri] businessman who was named [United States] U.S. ambassador to Belgium last year by President Bush." ... "On Monday, Kerry and national Democratic Party officials sharply criticized McCain for including retired Air Force colonel Bud Day in a conference call with reporters to defend McCain's military service. Day had appeared in Swift Boat ads." -By Fredreka Schouten -USATODAY

---

20080613
Gordon Smith - Oil - Money -Auto - Makers - Oregon - Television - Ad - 2008 Election
"Political ads try to tie Smith to gas prices." ... "An independent Democratic group launched two television ads today that try to tie [Oregon] Republican Senator Gordon Smith to skyrocketing gasoline prices." ... "Both contend that Smith has accepted huge contributions from oil companies and automakers, and that he had voted against higher fuel mileage standards while supporting tax breaks for oil companies." -AP via KTVZ

---

WATCH Ad on Gordon Smith oil corporation "Billions"
WATCH Ad on Gordon Smith gasoline "Dollars"

---

20080530
• Scott McClellan - Books - Counterterrorism - US - Iraq - Military - Intelligence - Politics - Marketing - "Scott McClellan Apologizes for Bashing Richard Clarke." ... "In an encounter last night in the lobby of a New York hotel, former [Republican President Bush] White House press secretary Scott McClellan apologized for denouncing a former White House colleague, Richard Clarke, the former counterterrorism adviser, after Clarke wrote a book ["Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror"] highly critical of the Bush administration in 2004." ... "Now McClellan is facing a similar denunciation from the White House for his own highly critical book." ... "In 2004, McClellan said Clarke's book, asserting the Bush administration failed to take timely action against al Qaeda, was "flat-out wrong." He told reporters at a March 22, 2004 briefing, "Ask yourself why, one and a half years later, after he left the administration, he's all of a sudden, coming forward with these grave concerns? If he had such grave concerns, why didn't he come out with them sooner?"" ... "Now White House aides are saying much the same thing about McClellan's assertions, in his book "What Happened," that President Bush waged a deceitful propaganda campaign to promote the war in Iraq. " ... "Clarke appeared Thursday night on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" to talk about his new book, "Your Government Failed You," and was asked about McClellan's criticism of him in 2004. "I think there is a box in the White House that, if anyone escapes and tells the truth, they break open for talking points about what to say," Clarke told Stewart." (1, 2) -By Brian Ross with contributions by Mark Mooney -ABCNEWS.com 

  ---

20080528
Gordon Smith - Richard Berman - Corporate - Marketing - Politics - Oregon -Federal - Employee - Law - 2008 Election
"Employee Freedom Action Committee." ... "Last Thursday, May 22, a roguish outfit calling itself the Employee Freedom Action Committee  ran full-page ads as part of that “AstroTurf” strategy in The Oregonian and Eugene Register-Guard to begin the post-election assault on [2008 Election Oregon Democratic Senatorial Candidate] Jeff Merkley, who two days earlier won the Democratic contest to challenge [United States Oregon Republican Senator] U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore. [Republican-Oregon])." ... "The ad refers to a 2007 Oregon law that lets employees rather than management decide how to vote to form a union. A more comprehensive federal version of that law is pending." ... "Washington, D.C.-based Employee Freedom is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, which means it does not need to disclose its funding sources. The group is headquartered in the office of D.C. lobbyist Richard Berman, who has a history of setting up AstroTurf groups for the tobacco and booze industries, as well as anti-union employers." -WWeek.com

---


• Scott McClellan - Book - Noteworthy - US - Iraq - Corporate - Media - Military - Government - Politics - Marketing - Television - History - Gore - Obama - McCain - Russert - Cheney - "Scott McClellan on the "liberal media"." ... "In a minimally rational world, this extraordinary passage, from the new book by Scott McClellan, would forever slay the single most ludicrous myth in our political culture: The "Liberal Media":"
"If anything, the national press corps was probably too deferential to the [Republican President Bush] White House and to the administration in regard to the most important decision facing the nation during my years in Washington, the choice over whether to go to war in Iraq."

"The collapse of the administration's rationales for war, which became apparent months after our invasion, should never have come as such a surprise. . . . In this case, the "liberal media" didn't live up to its reputation. If it had, the country would have been better served."

"Just consider how remarkable that is. [Republican President] George Bush's own Press Secretary criticizes the American media for being "too deferential" to the Government. He lays the blame for Bush's ability to propagandize the nation on the media's uncritical dissemination of the Republican administration's falsehoods. And most notably of all, McClellan actually uses cynical scare quotes when invoking the phrase which, in conventional political discourse, is deemed the most unassailable truth of all: The Liberal Media." ... "How much longer can this preposterous myth be sustained when even the White House Spokesman not only mocks the phrase but derides the media for being "too deferential" to the right-wing Government "in regard to the most important decision facing the nation during [his] years in Washington"? If one were to set about with the goal of debunking the "Liberal Media" myth -- as Eric Alterman specifically did four years ago and other media critics have more generally done before that -- one couldn't dream up evidence more conclusive than McClellan's admissions." ... "Blindingly conclusive evidence which would -- for any rational person -- forever negate the "Liberal Media" myth has been piling up for years. The extraordinary (though woefully incomplete) 2004 mea culpa from The New York Times acknowledged that not just Judy Miller, but the paper as a whole, re-printed pro-war government claims that were "allowed to stand unchallenged." The Washington Post's own media critic, Howard Kurtz, documented that anti-war views were systematically buried at that paper. The NYTrecently exposed that network and cable news shows for years continuously allowed Pentagon-controlled operatives to masquerade as "independent analysts" spouting the pro-government line with virtually no challenge. And the media's pathological fixation on the Clinton sex scandals -- which led to his impeachment -- stood in stark contrast to the widespread indifference among the citizenry." ... "Beyond all that, are there any reporters left who deny that the campaign-covering media in 2000 was gushingly enamored of [Republican] George Bush and oozing with contempt for [Democratic] Al Gore? Identically, their intense affection for [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain is something they openly proclaim; as they shamelessly acknowledge, they're his "base." And while some journalists undoubtedly harbor admiration for [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] Barack Obama, the non-stop coverage of one anti-Obama narrative after the next -- Jeremiah Wright, lapel pins, patriotism "questions," "Bittergate," "problems" with Jewish and white voters -- simply has no parallel in any coverage of McCain." ... "Beyond that objective evidence, just look at the claims which "Liberal Media" complainers make to support their grievance. As examples of "liberal" journalists, they'll cite people like Chris Matthews -- who voted for [Republican] George Bush, and did more than anyone to prop up his image as our Great War Leader and demonize Bush critics. One of the leading examples of a biased "liberal" journalist is therefore someone who actually went on television in late 2005 and said this:"

"I like [Bush]. Everybody sort of likes the president, except for the real whack-jobs, maybe on the left -- I mean -- like him personally."

"Or they'll point to "liberal" Tim Russert -- Tim Russert -- about whom [Republican Vice President] Cheney press aide Cathy Martin said: "I suggested we put the vice president on 'Meet the Press,' which was a tactic we often used. It's our best format, as it allows us to control the message." That's the same "liberal" Tim Russert who confessed that he operates by the defining law of the Government propagandist: "When I talk to senior government officials on the phone, it's my own policy -- our conversations are confidential. If I want to use anything from that conversation, then I will ask permission."" ... "Or look at the recent "controversy" reported by the Associated Press over whether NBC News' reputation as an objective news outlet is being tainted by virtue of the "liberal" commentators MSNBC features. Nobody questioned whether CNN's objectivity was imperiled by featuring the likes of [right-wing commentators] Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs, nor, for that matter, did anyone raise these questions about NBC when, for years, MSNBC shows were hosted by the likes of Tucker Carlson, Joe Scarborough and Michael Savage." ... "But a single unapologetic Bush critic appears on the TV -- Keith Olbermann -- and this rarest of occurrence suddenly leads to controversy over whether the "respectability" of television news can survive while allowing a single "liberal" voice to be heard." -By Glenn Greenwald -Salon

---

20080524
• John McCain - Barack Obama - Joseph Lieberman - Lindsey Graham - Finance - Laws - 2008 Election - Ad - Iraq - War - US - Connecticut - South Carolina - Arizona - "McCain advisers on '527' attacking Obama." ... "Both [2008 Election Presidential Candidates] John McCain and Barack Obama say they want to rein in the power of the so-called "527s," the independent political committees that skirt the campaign finance laws with unlimited financing and unregulated campaign attacks." ... "But two of [Republican] McCain's own campaign chairmen are serving on the board of an independent organization behind a new attack ad against [Democratic] Obama, "an apparent violation of the Arizona Republican's new conflict of interest policy,'' the Huffington Post notes." ... ""Sens. [Connecticut Independent Senator] Joseph Lieberman and [South Carolina Republican Senator] Lindsey Graham both hold chairs for the McCain camp as well as positions on the board of advisers of Vets for Freedom, an advocacy group that supports the Iraq war,'' the HuffPost reports. "A week ago these titles may not have been a political issue. But under McCain's newly-implemented ethics policy, Lieberman and Graham's role with Vets for Freedom is now proving problematic." -By Mark Silva -Sun-Sentinel.com 

  ---

20080516
• John McCain - Marketing - Law - Politics - History - 2004 Election - 2008 Election - "McCain adviser ousted in conflict uproar." ... "[2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain's campaign asked a prominent Republican consultant, Craig Shirley, to leave his official campaign role Thursday after a Politico inquiry about Shirley's dual role consulting for the campaign and for an independent "527" group opposing the Democratic presidential candidates." ... "Shirley, a conservative public relations veteran, doubled as a consultant to McCain and to the group Stop Her Now, a 527 group barred from coordinating its activities with presidential campaigns." ... "Shirley’s firm, Shirley & Bannister Associates, was paid more than $22,000 by McCain for work this February and March to win conservative support. Stop Her Now has paid the firm more than $155,000 since 2007 for public relations work." ... "He [Craig Shirley] was reportedly a member of the team that tarred [former Democratic Presidential Candidate] Michael Dukakis with the “Willie Horton” ads in 1988, and later he helped organize the first press conference with Paula Jones, who had sued [former Democratic President] Clinton for sexual harassment. In 2004, his company did public relations work for a mov[i]e attacking [former 2004 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate] John Kerry for undermining the treatment of Vietnam Veterans, “Stolen Honor.”" -By Ben Smith -Politico.com

  ---

20080511
• Mother's-Day - Museum - West Virginia - Woman - Mother - People - Consumer - Marketing - Industry - "For the mother of Mother's Day, it's just never been right." ... "Anna Jarvis never had children, but she became the mother of Mother's Day, giving birth to the holiday during a serene church ceremony in her hometown [Grafton, West Virginia] 100 years ago." ... "At first, her creation was perfect and pure. People honored their mothers the way she envisioned it -- with a white carnation, a symbol of maternal purity, a handwritten note or a day off." ... "But then her holiday started acting like a rebellious teenager, selling out to the flower and card industry, leaving Miss Jarvis bitter and disillusioned. She ended her life in a mental asylum." ... "The story of Miss Jarvis and the holiday that she couldn't control come to life in two exhibits more than 20 miles south of Morgantown [West Virginia]. The International Mother's Day Shrine memorializes the first Mother's Day service on May 10, 1908, the anniversary of the death of Miss Jarvis' mother, Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis." ... "Four miles away from Grafton in Webster [West Virginia] is the Anna Jarvis Birthplace Museum, a lovingly restored wooden Civil War-era house." ... "Miss Jarvis likely would cringe if she could see Mother's Day today." ... "The simple white carnation handed out to mothers in the former Andrews Methodist Church 100 years ago has given way to modern marketing -- crowded department store Mother's Day sales, restaurant pitches for elaborate brunches and dinners, ornate floral bouquets and rows upon rows of Mother's Day cards, instead of the handwritten note she urged. On average, Americans are expected to spend $138 each on mom this Mother's Day, ringing up $15.8 billion in sales." ... "In her day, Anna Jarvis was a public figure and irresistible newspaper copy as she crashed confectioners' conferences, broke up a War Mothers' rally and threatened lawsuits -- all in the name of saving her beloved Mother's Day from encroachers." -By Cristina Rouvalis -Post-Gazette.com 

  ---

20080510
• John McCain - Burma [Myanmar] - Military - Money - Politics - DCI Group - Marketing - Human Rights - Oil - Arizona - US - 2008 Election - Saint Paul - Minn - "McCain's Convention Chair Worked for Burma's Military Junta." ... "John McCain's choice to manage the GOP convention this summer is lobbyist Doug Goodyear, whose firm once represented Burma's repressive regime." ... "After [2008 Election Republican Presidential Candidate] John McCain nailed down the Republican nomination in March, his campaign began wrestling with a sensitive personnel issue: who would manage this summer's GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn. [Minnesota]? The campaign recently tapped Doug Goodyear for the job, a veteran operative and Arizonan who was chosen for his "management experience and expertise," according to McCain press secretary Jill Hazelbaker. But some allies worry that Goodyear's selection could fuel perceptions that McCain—who has portrayed himself as a crusader against special interests—is surrounded by lobbyists. Goodyear is CEO of DCI Group, a consulting firm that earned $3 million last year lobbying for ExxonMobil [oil corporation], General Motors and other clients." ... "Potentially more problematic: the firm was paid $348,000 in 2002 to represent Burma's military junta, which had been strongly condemned by the State Department for its human-rights record and remains in power today. Justice Department lobbying records show DCI pushed to "begin a dialogue of political reconciliation" with the regime. It also led a PR [public relations] campaign to burnish the junta's image, drafting releases praising Burma's efforts to curb the drug trade and denouncing "falsehoods" by the [Republican President] Bush administration that the regime engaged in rape and other abuses. " -By Michael Isikoff -Newsweek

  ---

20080505
• Vito J Fossella - New York - Virginia - Cops - Driving - Law - Marketing - Money - 2008 Election - "Vito Fossella's relationship with 'mystery woman' under scrutiny." ... "This is the first look at the mystery woman whom [Staten Island, New York Republican Representative] Rep. Vito Fossella (R-S.I. [Republican-Staten Island]) called for help after he was charged with drunken driving in Virginia." ... "Fossella aides continued to describe the two only as good friends." ... "In other developments:" ... "Watchdog groups questioned Fossella's use of campaign funds to pay a high-priced damage control expert." ... "The Republican, facing reelection in November [2008 Election], had a blood-alcohol level of 0.17 - twice the legal limit, cops said, and hired damage consultant Susan Del Percio with money from his campaign war chest." -By Kenneth R. Bazinet, Joe Gould, and Tina Moore -NYDailyNews.com

  ---

20080424
• WATCH - US - Iraq - Military - Government - Intelligence - Illegal - Psychological - Media -  - Marketing - Politics - "Government Curries Favor With Military News Analysts." ... "The Pentagon may influence the analysis of some retired military personnel who appear on television news programs, the New York Times recently reported. Media insiders discuss the details of this murky world of defense companies, the current administration and the war in Iraq.
[PBS NewsHour Reporter] JUDY WOODRUFF: These former generals and colonels have been a mainstay of commentary and analysis. And the networks paid them for their appearances.

Now, a lengthy New York Times investigation, published on Sunday, revealed the Pentagon targeted many of these analysts as part of an information apparatus to generate favorable news coverage of the administration's wartime performance.

Pentagon officials organized hundreds of private meetings with senior military leaders and the military analysts. They included talks with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

According to the Times, analysts were also taken on tours of Iraq and given access to classified intelligence. In turn, members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated.

It was also disclosed that most of the analysts have ties to military contractors [corporate military money ties].
...
JOHN STAUBER, Center for Media and Democracy [and author of the book, "Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq."]: Well, Judy, first of all, congratulations to the NewsHour for doing this report. And it's a shame on the networks who were duped this way that they didn't show up to defend or explain their actions.

What happened here was a psy-ops campaign [a psychological operations campaign], an incredible government propaganda campaign whereby Donald Rumsfeld and Torie Clark, the head of public relations for the Pentagon, designed a program to recruit 75, at least 75 former military officers, as your report said, most of them now lobbyists or consultants to military contractors, and insert them, beginning in 2002, before the attack on Iraq was even launched, into the major networks to manage the messages, to be surrogates.

And that's the words that are actually used, "message multipliers" for the secretary of defense and for the Pentagon. This program continues right up to now.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And is the essence of this that what they did was -- what the Pentagon did was illegal?

JOHN STAUBER: Yes, what they did was illegal. Now, the Pentagon might contest that, but we've had various laws on the books in our country going back to the 1920s. It is illegal for the U.S. government to propagandize citizens in this way.

In my opinion, this war could have never been sold if it were not for this sophisticated propaganda campaign. And what we need is congressional investigation of not just this Pentagon military analyst program, but all the rest of the deception and propaganda that came out of the Bush administration and out of the Pentagon that allowed them to sell and manage this war.

" -PBS /NewsHour

---

20080423
• Barack Obama - Hillary Rodham Clinton - Karl Rove - Terrorism - Politics - Osama bin Laden - Television - Ad - Money - History - Pennsylvania - Illinois - New York - Iran - Israel - US - Military - 2008 Election - "The Low Road to Victory." ... "The Pennsylvania campaign, which produced yet another inconclusive result on Tuesday, was even meaner, more vacuous, more desperate, and more filled with pandering than the mean, vacuous, desperate, pander-filled contests that preceded it." ... "Voters are getting tired of it; it is demeaning the political process; and it does not work. It is past time for [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and New York] Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to acknowledge that the negativity, for which she is mostly responsible, does nothing but harm to her, her opponent, her party and the 2008 election." ... "If nothing else, self interest should push her in that direction. Mrs. Clinton did not get the big win in Pennsylvania that she needed to challenge the calculus of the Democratic race. It is true that [2008 Election Democratic Presidential Candidate and Illinois] Senator Barack Obama outspent her 2-to-1. But Mrs. Clinton and her advisers should mainly blame themselves, because, as the political operatives say, they went heavily negative and ended up squandering a good part of what was once a 20-point lead." ... "On the eve of this crucial primary, Mrs. Clinton became the first Democratic candidate to wave the bloody shirt of 9/11. A Clinton television ad — torn right from Karl Rove’s playbook — evoked the 1929 stock market crash, Pearl Harbor, the Cuban missile crisis, the cold war and the 9/11 attacks, complete with video of Osama bin Laden. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” the narrator intoned." ... "If that was supposed to bolster Mrs. Clinton’s argument that she is the better prepared to be president in a dangerous world, she sent the opposite message on Tuesday morning by declaring in an interview on ABC News that if Iran attacked Israel while she were president: “We would be able to totally obliterate them.”" -NYTimes

  ---

20080410
• Bob Schaffer - Colorado - Virginia - Video - Ad - Money - Politics - 2008 Election - "Schaffer ad maker slapped: Watchdog group says law violated." ... "A national group behind a political ad showing schoolchildren repeatedly thanking U.S. [Colorado Republican] Senate candidate Bob Schaffer for his commitment to charter schools has run afoul of federal election laws." ... "U.S. Term Limits, a Virginia- based group, paid for the ad, which includes a written disclaimer: "U.S. Term Limits does not endorse candidates for public office."" ... "But when the ad was posted to YouTube .com, it was labeled "Bob Schaffer for Senate video." That's considered election advocacy, according to a national ethics watchdog group." ... "Anyone who pays for an ad advocating the election or defeat of a candidate must file a report with the Federal Election Commission within 48 hours after the ad appears. No report was filed." ... "Schaffer, a Fort Collins Republican, faces Democrat Mark Udall, of Eldorado Springs [Colorado], in November [2008 Election]." -By Lynn Bartels -RockyMountainNews.com

  ---

20080213
• Entertainment - Writers - Television - Internet - Business - Advertising - "Hollywood writers strike ends." ... "Hollywood's costly 100-day walkout came to a widely welcomed end Tuesday after members of the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly to go back to work." ... "On Feb. [February] 25, writers are expected to ratify a new three-year contract that ensures them a stake in the revenue generated when their movies, television shows and other creative works are distributed on the Internet." ... "The walkout, which began Nov. [November] 5, proved to be far more economically damaging than the studios had expected, shutting down more than 60 TV shows, hampering ratings and depriving the networks of tens of millions in advertising dollars." ... "Labor experts said the crippling effect of the strike helped writers achieve gains they might not have otherwise attained." ... "The new contract gives them residual payments for shows streamed over the Internet and secures the union's jurisdiction for programming created for the Web." ... "Writers were unsuccessful, however, in their efforts to shorten the 17-to-24-day window that studios have to stream their shows for promotional purposes without paying residuals. Many writers complained that most viewers watched repeats online within days after a program was initially broadcast." -By Claudia Eller and Richard Verrier -LAtimes 

  ---

20080123
• Hillary Clinton -