Jay Leno... David Letterman... Okay, Craig R. Smith Speaks Out

Perhaps I should start by saying I'm not a big Leno fan. Mostly because I can't stay awake that late. But there's a curious email thread working its way around the internet, which neatly reinforced the political power of a media personality – coincidently condemning the very media that created him. The subject line in the email I received: "A Perspective by Jay Leno." Jay Leno, huh? I opened it.

First of all: it's mis-attributed. Snopes.com has seen the story credited to David Letterman as well as Leno, but its author was actually Craig R. Smith, an author and political commentator of somewhat lesser renown. But who forwards an email from Craig Smith? Hell, it sounds like an alias. Although one might have had a clue that the famous rarely bite the hand that feeds them, or at least live to tell the tale.

Attaching celebrity gives the message exponential power. Think about Yahoo! Answers, and the questions posed by personalities from Bono to Stephen Hawking to Al Gore. They attracted tens of thousands into a conversation that, had the topic been posed by me, would have been as well-read as this blog.

The article by Craig Smith is long, but well worth a read, in consideration of both the cultural cachet of fame in the political arena, as well as a gentle reminder that we should be grateful every day for what we have.

Oh – and the article's actual title?: "Made in the USA: Spoiled Brats."

Politics and the Olympics

Back to the funny papers again...

An ad agency network recently experienced a rather awkward public clash of conflicting sentiment toward China.  Two offices serve very large global clients with Olympic sponsorships.  A third has a long-standing relationship with Amnesty International.  Each produced work on behalf of their respective client – and understandably, demonstrated very different points of view on the nature of humanity.

The Olympics, despite protestations that it is an apolitical celebration of athleticism, transcending boundaries and skirmishes, petty and otherwise, is about flags.  Anthems.   Nationalism.  And beating ("smashing!" say the French swimmers) other countries.  Sounds almost... warlike... when you think about it.  Politics continues to overshadow these games, as it has many before, from Moscow to Berlin to Mexico City.

Prickly City (not to be confused with Mexico City) is a politically-conservative comic strip that runs in the LA Times.  It's theme over the past week or so has been China and the Olympics – and notably, China's relationship with Tibet.  After kicking off the series with the strip shown above, each subsequent day has featured an end panel in which one of the characters is viewed through prison bars.  

Human rights makes strange bedfellows.  Tibet: it's not just for liberals anymore.  And it's not going away because we're pretending the Olympics isn't political.

Wag the Dog

What if John Edwards secretly arranged for Russia to send troops into Georgia in order to distract from media coverage of his illicit affair?  

And damn that Fox News, for refusing to take the bait.  

Watch this great clip, in which Gregg Jarrett interviews Bonnie Erbe of PBS.  His dogged commitment to delivering a titillating piece on Edwards is impressive, as he repeatedly rebuffs Erbe's attempt to insert substance into the discussion.

The SmackTalk Express

John McCain has become well known for his stream-of-consciousness campaign-bus gabfest, the "Straight Talk Express."  His ability to engage – nay, enchant – the media in this oddly informal group format has been one of the strongest aspects of a generally weak campaign.  Vanity Fair recently noted this phenomenon in an article by James Wolcott called "Mad About the Guy," describing the almost irrational attraction grown men (in particular) feel for McCain when they meet him in person – in contrast to the Beatles-like mass hysteria induced by Obama.

Although clearly, the bromance doesn't extend to the relationship between the two candidates themselves.  Beyond the obligatory cordial mutual-respect thing, and the predictable sniping of "celebrity" versus "old guy," the Obama organization has created a unique criticism-debunking tool: The Low Road Express, a virtual Snopes.com of Obama rumor and innuendo.  It's motto, "Seen a low blow?  Let us know!," suggests a comrade-lite approach to keeping an eye on your neighbor's propaganda.

Paris for President

OMG (as they say) – this is the best freakin' thing I've seen in this campaign.  Actually, in any campaign, ever.

McCain's "celebrity" ads have been garnering a lot of attention, comparing Obama to shallow mononomial paparazzi-magnets like Paris and Britney.  The Yes, he's The One, but is he Ready to Lead? message. It's oddly compelling, if not exactly platform-differentiating.  I'd been hoping for something of substance soon.

Well today, Paris was the one that stepped up.

Her response video is brilliant.  And OMG again: Paris has the most sound energy policy that's been put forth by any candidate this election.  She's like, totally got my vote.

I Look Like Facebook

Just read an article on Chris Hughes, one of the founders of Facebook, who left the company in early 2007 to work on the Obama campaign.  He's been harnessing the power of the online masses in a way that Howard Dean's campaign only dreamed of, turning MyBarackObama.com into a hub of organizing, networking, fundraising and rumor-debunking.  (More on the rumor-debunking part later – his organization is running a veritable Snopes.com of negative press on the candidate, which is nothing short of revolutionary campaign management.)

There was an interesting reference in the article regarding a comment made by Clinton's campaign advisors, when she was still in the race.  They minimized the impact of the Obama supporter  base and its Internet roots; Mark Penn was attributed with the quote "They look like Facebook."  He expanded: "Only a few of their people look like they could vote in any state."