Two nuggets

By GottaLaff

Greg Sargent has two nuggets that caught my eye today:

[T]he White House has now released the most detailed chronology yet of the handling of the Christmas bomb plotter. Key takeaway: He was Mirandized nine hours after capture — and after FBI concluded he’d stopped talking.

How about that? Nine hours.

Then there's this little White House promise:

A key concession from Dan Pfeiffer: The White House shouldn’t have stood back and let Congress set the agenda. Vows it won’t happen again.

Gee, ya think?

Good vow. You know why? Because if it happens again, bye bye 2012, bye bye agenda, bye bye Democrats.

White House communications director repeats concern with Fox News

By GottaLaff



Anita Dunn has company. Enjoy the wholesome goodness:

"They have a point of view; that point of view pervades the entire network," he told The New York Times in a sit-down interview.

"We don't feel the obligation to treat them like we would treat a CNN, or an ABC, or an NBC, or a traditional news organization, but there are times when we believe it makes sense to communicate with them," he added, noting the White House's decision to dispatch counter-terrorism chief John Brennan to Fox News Sunday after the Flight 253 attack was one example of that exception. [...]

"We will correct the record, whether it's an analyst on Fox, whether its a member of Congress, whether its a reporter or expert...," Pfeiffer said.

ClusterFox is nothing more than a vicious propaganda machine. Just ask Rupert Murdoch's own son-in-law.

RNC communications director abruptly resigns

By GottaLaff

Via Taegan, we get word of more trouble for Rushpublics:

Politico: "Trevor Francis, communications director of the Republican National Committee, abruptly resigned Monday, and two Republican strategists familiar with the situation said he was pushed out because Chairman Michael Steele didn't feel he was getting enough credit for the GOP's electoral success earlier this month."

There, there, Mikey, everyone is looking at you now. Happy?

Anita Dunn leaving White House

By GottaLaff

MSNBC just announced that Anita Dunn is leaving her post at the White House. She is the White House Communications Director who said "Fox News is “opinion journalism masquerading as news.”

More here.

VIDEO: RNC Taking Lessons from Al Qaeda?

By GottaLaff



If President Obama had said this... well, don't ask:

Gawker has an interesting video of RNC new media director Todd Herman pointing out that Fortune 500 companies -- and presumably political parties -- can learn a lot from the Internet communication strategies of Al Qaeda.

The video was shot when Herman still worked for Microsoft.

VIDEO: Glenn Beck Installs "White House" Phone to 'Correct the Mistakes as They Happen'

By GottaLaff

Glenn Blech is like an inferior carnival barker, only he himself is the freak show. He'll say or do anything loudly, exaggerate, and put on a big gaudy show to get attention of naive, or bored, passers-by.

I've never really watched him for any length of time (and have never tuned in to his show), and after seeing this video, I really don't get the appeal.

He comes across as infantile and mentally deficient. It has to be the rubber necking/car wreck syndrome thing, because honestly, he is worthless as an entertainer, as phony as The Boehner's "tan", and from what I can tell, offers nothing at all of value to his viewers.

The dumbing down of America continues:



For the back story, see this post.

ClusterFox v. The White House

By GottaLaff

The other day Anita Dunn told the truth about Faux News. Now Faux is proving her point:

On Sunday, a White House official attacked the cable news channel as being essentially a wing of the Republican party. Fox spokesmen were sure to respond, which is swell, but read the one-sided "news" story at Fox site.

ClusterFox is covering the White House's coverage of ClusterFox's coverage, and their coverage of said coverage is confirming the White House's coverage of their coverage. Clear?

Thanks. I'm here all week.

Senior White House aide leaving for new post

By GottaLaff

Eat and run:

White House aides revealed Tuesday that Ellen Moran, the President's communications director, is leaving to become chief of staff to new Commerce Secretary Gary Locke.

In a written statement, the President thanked Moran, who had previously served as a top official at the fundraising group EMILY's List, which is charged with electing more Democratic women who support abortion rights to office.

"I thank Ellen Moran for her leadership during these first critical months of my administration, and I am pleased she will serve as chief of staff at the Department of Commerce," the President said in the prepared statement. "Her management and strategic skills will ensure that Secretary Locke, an important member of my economic team, gets off to a fast start.

DNC about to get louder on Obama agenda

By GottaLaff

I just posted about the NRSC video launch attacking President Obama. Now the DNC is about to get going on behalf of the Obama agenda:

The Democratic National Committee is about to crank up the speakers. As part of its campaign to sell President Obama's agenda, DNC HQ will double the size of its communications and research operation to make sure that even tiny, local pro-Obama efforts, like the weekend nationwide neighborhood canvassing for the president's budget, get a voice and some press.

That's the spirit. Effective rapid response would be swell. Big time campaigning, media blitzing... go for it. Hey, I bet we bloggers would be a welcome addition, right?

"It's going to be like a general election for president," says Brad Woodhouse, the new DNC communications and research boss. That means rapid response, regional media help, and party bloggers. One reason for the expansion is to take advantage of the Obama campaign's E-mail list of 13 million. The Obama campaign arm, Organizing for America, is also being folded into the DNC. The party, says Woodhouse, "has never before been used to pass a president's agenda."

Unity.

Obama Ready for Prime Time

Doing what he does best.

President Obama will take questions from reporters during his second prime time press conference tonight at 8 pm ET.

What to watch: It's the first time he has faced a group of journalists in a formal setting since the AIG bonus controversy erupted last week. He has done several high profile one-on-one interviews, ranging from 60 Minutes to Jay Leno to ESPN.

In a related story, Politico notes Obama and his team "are launched on a strategy to sail above the traditional White House press corps by reaching out to liberal commentators, local reporters and ethnic media."

Obama Web Team Has Difficult Transition

The Obama people are probably still packing up the Bush Communications Team's smoke signal equipment tin cans and string**. They'll figure it out.

"The team that ran the most technologically advanced presidential campaign in modern history is finding it difficult to adapt that model to government," the Washington Post reports.

"WhiteHouse.gov, envisioned as the primary vehicle for President Obama to communicate with the online masses, has been overwhelmed by challenges that staffers did not foresee and technological problems they have yet to solve. Obama, for example, would like to send out mass e-mail updates on presidential initiatives, but the White House does not have the technology in place to do so. The same goes for text messaging, another campaign staple."

On a related note, Garance Franke-Ruta reports the White House is now releasing Obama's weekly address to Vimeo as well as YouTube.

**Sigh, just looking for an antiquated form of communication.

Obama Considers Adding "Celebrity Operatives"

By GottaLaff

Some familiar names are going to get even more familiar:

Mike Allen: "Some of the best-known names in Democratic politics -- Jenny Backus, Stephanie Cutter, Matthew Miller, Jennifer Palmieri and Howard Wolfson (alphabetical, guys) -- are being considered as public faces of the new administration in top communications roles outside the White House. Like the recruitment of Jay Carney, these celebrity operatives are a reminder that the Obama presidency is breaking all sorts of conventions, including the professional life cycle that so often takes hot strategists from public service to the private sector for good."

"We were told to add a speculative disclaimer at the top of this, so: This is what well-connected Dems are chattering about. It's not set in stone."

I wonder what well-connected Dems are connected to.