Memo to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, re: "Turkey Pardon" Gaffe ..... instead of chewing out the debauched harlots of the mainstream media, why not chew out - or, better yet, kick out - your public information officer.
Much of the debate I've heard and read over this - both in the virtual world and the actual world - has centered on criticism of Palin, her critics and the media ... and has pretty much followed party lines.
I'd like to suggest a different point ... there are people, PIO's, whose job is to promote and present a state's chief executive, and those folks definitely dropped the ball on this one. Turkey pardons at Thanksgiving are nothing new ... they have one each year at the White House, and those are pretty good, straightforward affairs, easy for the media to cover, and pretty much guaranteed to run in the news that night ... without controversy or embarrassment. Compare one of those with the debacle in Alaska, and you get an appreciation for how well Bush's people do their job, and just how badly Palin's people did theirs.
• The Guest: Bush is presented with a single turkey that has been cleaned (those of you who have experience with poultry farms will know the importance of this) and prepped for the occasion ... not Palin.
• The Setting: Bush greets his turky on the lawn, flanked only by his guests for the ceremony, with the White House as a backdrop ... not Palin.
• The Crew: Bush has people on top of the situation, making sure everything goes according to script, and that nothing intrudes in the background that might disrupt that script or distract from their boss ... not Palin.
We're not talking rocket science here, folks. You go ahead and blame whoever you want to blame ... As for me, I'm blaming her PIO.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
My thoughts exactly. I mean, seriously, is anyone even pretending to organize these events?
The fact that some staff member couldn't say, "Governor, let's take our pictures over here away from the turkey slaughter."
Or, how about this? Some member of Palin's staff asks the Turkey farm to stop killing turkeys for ten minutes while the governor of the state visits the establishment.
Belisarius, thanks for stopping in. And you're exactly right ... just a little forethought and organization, just a brief time-out from the farm's usual routine, could have made all the difference.
Post a Comment