MEMO TO FRIENDS AND CLIENTS
“It’s not race baiting,” said Louisiana Democratic Party spokeswoman Julie Vezinot, defending the party’s decision to refer to then-candidate/now governor- elect Bobby Jindal by his original birth Indian name, Piyush, in their press releases.
The Weekly Standard, “Another Winner from Winn Parish,” Oct. 15, 2007
“There was no intent to deceive anyone,” said Texas A&M football coach Dennis Franchione after being caught sending a weekly e-mail with non-public tidbits to boosters who paid $1,200 a year, with all the money going to the company that maintains his personal website. (Of course he was doing it under the radar screen. That’s why he didn’t tell the A&M Athletic Director. He should have been truthful and said, “I’ve been told to stop it, and I have.”)
The Dallas Morning News, “Franchione sold A&M secrets to donors,” Sept. 29, 2007
“I may have made some bad decisions in Chicago, but I was never involved in violence. I never harmed anyone. I never was out of control. I am not a gun-toting thug,” said Terry “Tank” Johnson on being signed by the Dallas Cowboys after being released by the Chicago Bears following a number of arrests involving weapons. (Comforting. What’s distressing about this is the attempt to rationalize and justify his actions. Since he was carrying illegal weapons, he could have harmed or killed someone. We just hope he takes the opportunity Jerry Jones has given him and makes the most of it.)
The Dallas Morning News, “Getting Tank back on track,” Oct. 2, 2007
“I have absolutely nothing to hide,” Howard K. Stern, Anna Nicole Smith’s former boyfriend and lawyer, told Larry King about a lawsuit.
CNN-Larry King Live, Oct. 10, 2007
“By no means are we condoning a six-on-one beat down,” said comedian Katt Williams, introducing two of the “Jena Six” defendants to help host the Black Entertainment Television’s Hip-Hop Awards show. (The victim, Justin Baxter, was attacked by the six young men known as the “Jena Six” and spent three hours in the Emergency Room after being knocked unconscious. By all accounts, despite racial tensions in the town and school, the attack was unprovoked and vicious. By inviting two of the perpetrators, who expressed no remorse or humility, BET certainly was condoning violence. This was a serious error of judgment)
www.thetowntalk.com, “Two of ‘Jena Six’ defendants present BET award,” Oct. 19, 2007
Magician David Copperfield’s lawyer, David Chesnoff, called allegations from an aspiring model “false because David Copperfield has never forced himself on anyone.” (Classic repetition of charges while trying to deny them. The lawyer should have said, “David treats people respectfully and looks forward to clearing his good name, and when that happens, we are confident the news media will give it similar prominence.)
AP, “Copperfield cancels some shows,” Oct. 23, 2007
“This is not government-run. There will be no new bureaucracy,” said Senator Hillary Clinton about her proposal requiring Americans to buy health insurance. (We can’t fault Sen. Clinton, but have you ever seen a program which didn’t generate a new bureaucracy?)
USAToday, “Clinton unveils details of her health care plan,” Sept. 18, 2007
“This is not an issue of cover-up related to climate change and health,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Julie Gerberding said about charges that the White House had heavily edited her testimony before Congress on climate change. (Press secretary Dana Perino got into the act, adding, “It was not watered down in terms of its science, it wasn’t watered down in terms of the concerns that climate change raises for public health.” Dr. Gerberding had some good quotes, but this is another example of a charge being made by opponents, carried by the media to the other side which regurgitates the negative and denies it.)
Wall Street Journal.com, “CDC Director Says White House Didn’t Dilute Climate Testimony,” Oct. 24, 2007
The New York Times, “White House Cuts to climate Testimony Raise Questions,” Oct. 25, 2007
”There wasn’t an intention to string workers along,” says Aleris’ Chief[MJ1] Executive Officer, Steven Demetriou. (In a story about the intense pressures by LBO takeover owners to cut costs and load companies with debt before selling them off, Demetroiu tells how he shuttered plants where workers had been led to believe the new owners planned to invest for the future. While we understand all about the need to be competitive, these tactics fan anti-business resentment.)
Business Week, “Perform or Perish,” Nov. 5, 2007
“Steroids in Florida? I never received anything from Florida. I’m not going to comment. I never even heard of it,” said New York Mets relief pitcher Scott Schoeneweis about allegations which leaked out from an investigation by the Albany, N.Y., District Attorney’s office that he got illegal steroids from a Florida pharmacy. (Protesting too much. He should have said, “It’s not appropriate to discuss something like this,” and if he’s absolutely clean, he could add, “And I value my career too much. I play by all the rules.”)
FOXSports.com, “Met’s Schoeneweis denies receiving steroids,” Oct. 2, 2007
“We are not raising taxes, we are restructuring the rates,” announced House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) about plans to raise $1 trillion to replace revenue lost by abolishing the alternative minimum tax. (This is what we love about Congress. They can say things like this with a straight face.)
USAToday, “Rangel: $1 trillion plan not a tax increase,” Oct. 26, 2007
“I’ve not done anything for which I should step aside,” Richard Roberts, president of Oral Roberts University, told Larry King. One week later, he took what he described as a temporary leave of absence. Roberts and the University are being sued by former professors who accuse him of using a university jet for family vacations, billing clothes to a university account and other extravagances.
CNN, “University leader requests leave amid lawsuit,” Oct. 17, 20
New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has infuriated his own party members by announcing a wildly unpopular plan to provide driver’s licenses to illegal aliens and then by secretly backing away from it in a deal with Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, leaving Democrats who supported him out-on-a-limb. “He let me go on the Senate floor and make a fool of myself. Now I have to take the time to stand up, eat crap and apologize,” said state Sen. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx). Spitzer’s aide, Richard Baum, tried to insist the Governor always knew that licenses without valid Social Security numbers would not qualify with federal requirements about to take effect. (Remember, many of the 9-11 hijackers had driver’s licenses although they were in the country illegally, having overstayed various visas. This is a very touchy subject in the state of New York. One unidentified state official was quoted saying, “Driver’s licenses are the new sex offenders.”)
NY Daily News, “Clue us in, Democrats growl at Eliot Spitzer,” Oct. 29, 2007
Timesunion.com, “Plenty left to do at Capitol,” Oct. 22, 2007
“There was nothing deceptive or rogue,” said Richard “Chip” Bierbaum, the Calyon trader fired for allegedly losing over $353 million because of unauthorized trading. (Bierbaum is only 26, and in an interview, maintained that his superiors were well aware of his actions.)
Bloomberg, “Calyon Trader Fired for $353 Million loss says He’s No Rogue,” Oct. 19, 2007
THE WRONG THING TO SAY
“There’s no way this product could have hurt her,” said James Phillips, spokesman for a company which produces canned beans in which a woman found the head of a rodent. “This rodent was rendered commercially sterile. We cook each can individually to a temperature of 265 degrees.” Mr. Phillips noted that the company produces millions of cans of beans a year and that this kind of incident was rare. (But not unprecedented. In 2005, a woman reported finding an amphibian leg in a similar can of green beans. Mr. Phillips said the company was the true victim, “She’s trying to ruin us through the media.” It looks like the company was quite able to plunge the knife in its own heart. He should have said, “Quality control is our number one priority, and we’ve taken steps to address and correct any procedures which don’t live up to our high standards.”)
The Salt Lake Tribune, “Rodent head in your green beans? No problem, canner says – it’s ‘commercially sterile,’” Oct. 5, 2007
“Of course, we don’t always win…” said the lead language on the website of The Watts law firm, highlighting a suit against energy companies in Texas, and adding, “We lost the case, but helped to change questionable energy industry practices in Texas. Likewise, we can’t promise to win your case.” (If I want to lobby the legislature, I’ll hire a lobbyist. Even stranger, the page features a famous quote from Chinese General Sun Tzu, “One must always know the outcome before ever stepping foot onto the battlefield.” Did they know they were going to lose?)
www.wattslawfirm.com
“It’s not that we didn’t take him seriously, we don’t take every missing person reports on adults... If we did, we’d be doing nothing but going after missing person reports,” said Deputy Rodney C. Chinnick, after Tom Rider’s wife was found alive – barely – after eight days trapped in her wrecked car at the bottom of a ravine. Rider had begged and pleaded with police when his wife didn’t return from a shopping trip. Instead of looking for her, they searched his house and asked him to take a polygraph test. Finally, a search of cell phone records led them to the car.
MSNBC, “Woman found alive 8 days later,” Sept. 28. 2007
A HEARTFELT APOLOGY
We’re dismayed that track star Marion Jones lied and covered up her use of steroids but her apology to her family and fans was heartfelt. She stepped forward and said, “It is with a great amount of shame that I stand before you and tell you I have betrayed your trust. Making these false statements to federal agents was an incredibly stupid thing to do and I am responsible fully for my actions.” Jones didn’t expect instant forgiveness, adding that she knew an apology “Might not be enough and sufficient to address the pain and hurt I have caused you.” (We hope Ms. Jones reclaims her life and starts a new chapter.)
CNN.com, “Track star Marion Jones pleads guilty to doping deception,” Oct. 5, 2007
ACADEMIC RESEARCH SUPPORTS BIMBO MEMO TEACHING
University of Michigan social psychologist Norbert Schwarz tested what volunteers remembered from a flyer from the Centers for Disease Control which tried to correct myths about the flu vaccine – such as “only older people need flu vaccine.” Contrary to what he and the CDC expected, instead of retaining the new, correct information, most of the volunteers recalled only the incorrect myths. In other words, repeating and denying them only pounded them into the readers’ minds. A report on this study noted, “The conventional response to myths and urban legends is to counter bad information with accurate information,” but as longtime readers of the BIMBO memo know, repeating and denying a negative is a big mistake. The listener/reader is likely to overlook the denial and hear the opposite of what the speaker is saying. Peter Kim, an organizational psychologist at the University of Southern California, published a study in the Journal of Applied Psychology finding that if accusations are met with silence, they are more likely to be regarded as true. This matches our teaching that if you are perceived to be ignoring a question – even if you are trying to build a case – the listener actually hears differently. Our technique is to always acknowledge hearing the question.
Washingtonpost.com, “Persistence of Myths Could Alter Public Policy Approach,” Sept. 4, 2007
CREATING A LOSE-LOSE SITUATION
Celebrity Ellen DeGeneres created a firestorm when she adopted a dog from a rescue society and then gave it to her hairdresser’s kids when it didn’t get along with her cats. Because she had signed an agreement to return the animal if the adoption didn’t work out, the agency retrieved the dog from the new family. DeGeneres attacked the agency, Mutts and Mom, on the air, and the agency director, Marina Batkis, responded in-kind. DeGeneres admitted she hadn’t read the adoption agreement. The behavior of both parties is unfortunate. DeGeneres owed it to the dog to at least read the agreement. She could have gone back to Mutts and Mom, new family in tow. Batkis could have used the exposure of DeGeneres’ show to highlight the plight of abandoned pets. (At least DeGeneres tried to adopt from a shelter. Batkis should have gone the extra mile here.)
AP, “DeGeneres Under Fire for Giving Away Dog,” Oct. 15, 2007
Today, “Ellen says dog dilemma has ‘gotten out of hand,’” Oct. 18, 2007
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