“Commencement speeches,” the cartoonist Garry Trudeau once quipped, “were invented largely in the belief that outgoing college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated.” As commencement season rolls around, this post falls (once again) into the category of shameless self promotion. But as two of the many who […]
The Obama administration’s versatility in using social media is reshaping the way the government contracts. The bonanza called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act–$137 billion for infrastructure, $20 billion to modernize health records, $43 billion for energy initiatives–is being transparently run as a social media function on www.recovery.gov. Interestingly, making the most of a corporate […]
April 19, 2009 – 12:46 pm
This is a bit off topic, but since it’s Sunday and Podium Pundits seems to have a predilection for British things, I thought I’d comment on the Susan Boyle phenomenon. In case you missed it (and I doubt you have), Ms. Boyle is the 47 year-old amateur singer who charmed Britain – and then the […]
Just a quick note to acknowledge another communications innovation from the White House — and this one long overdue, IMHO: Dan Restrepo, senior advisor on Latin America, addressing the press corps in Spanish as he explained last week’s changes in policy toward Cuba. Check out the video here. Earlier this year, my former colleague Jamie […]
At a tea party protest in Austin, Texas Governor Rick Perry drew the sharpest line in the sand since Colonel William Barrett Travis asked his men to stay and defend the Alamo. The governor, not usually known for inflammatory statements, suggested that if Washington’s big gummit ways pushed us too far, Texas could invoke a […]
File this under “never allow a crisis to go to waste.” Mike Allen includes a remarkable tidbit in today’s Playbook: FROM THE RIGHT — CREATIVITY IN E-MAILING — Family Research Council, for “Victory at Sea”: “As you know, I don’t agree with the majority of the President’s policies, but I believe he deserves credit for […]
April 14, 2009 – 10:35 pm
The Wall Street Journal examines Fed chairman Ben Bernanke’s recent “PR push,” including a well-received “60 Minutes” interview last month, a full-on press conference with reporters, and Tuesday’s appearance at Morehouse College, during which Bernanke took questions at a roundtable with students. Bernanke’s larger mission is to make the Fed more transparent, which has proven […]
April 13, 2009 – 11:28 am
Has Barack Obama brought eloquence back to 21st-century politics for good? That’s the question (hagiographical as it may be) that animates the BBC’s new documentary, Yes We Can! The Lost Art of Oratory. Full disclosure: I was interviewed for this series, although I haven’t yet figured out if I outmuscled — our out-talked — the likes of […]
Interesting commentary from Virginia Heffernan in the April 12 New York Times Magazine on the paradox of YouTubery in our nation’s political arena. On the one hand, video has been a gift to folks like yours truly who believe in the power of a great speech — extending the life of a speech well beyond […]
I really appreciated Ed’s post a few days back about the double standard women leaders face on the wardrobe issue. It’s true that Michelle Obama’s clothes garnered a disproportionate amount of attention during this recent Europe trip. And let’s be honest: she looked fantastic. Her clothes were gorgeous, and so is she. It makes me […]
April 10, 2009 – 12:38 am
Ben Affleck, often considered the moon to Matt Damon’s sun, is out with a new movie, State of Play, in which he portrays a congressman. In this interview with the Wall Street Journal, he demonstrates a more sober analysis of the banking mess confronting Wall Street and Washington than 93.7 percent of Congress: WSJ: Do […]
As I noted in an earlier post, I’m a fan of Secretary Clinton. This intel from a recent post on Foreign Policy’s “The Cable” blog helps explain why: Clinton is drawing praise from some State Department officials for making a real effort to show her appreciation for staff. The secretary is doing thank-yous to the […]
A few PodPund-ish items to report from across the Atlantic. First, a new reality TV show on BBC2, called “The Speaker”: With Barack Obama having revived interest in the ancient art of oratory, it’s now time to take a group of awkward kids and teach them to speechify like the greats. But the idea of […]
When my son asks what good all the math he’s learning will do him later in life, I say it’s a very important skill to master if you want to be a speechwriter. He doesn’t appear to find this argument very compelling. Nevertheless, it’s true, especially when it comes to statistics. Most speechwriters worth their […]
I’ve written before about the struggle for comedians to find a funny trope to rely on when sending up President Obama. So far, the winner seems to be that he’s just awesome — perhaps too awesome, and perhaps too aware of his own awesomeness. As Vinca pointed out, even Joe Biden advanced the legend that the president has […]
