Merrie Spaeth, asked by President Reagan to serve as his Director of Media Relations, is one of the most respected communications experts in the country and founder of
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As a way to "recognize dumb public comments made during the year," Ms. Spaeth has created the Bimbo Awards from a desire to memorialize the protest of a young lady whose tryst with a well known evangelist some years ago made news around the world. Her comment, "I Am Not A Bimbo," became the headline in scores of newspapers and a cover of People Magazine in 1987.
Anyone can nominate a person for a bimbo award through their website (absolutely confidential, by the way) and will win a coveted orange Bimbo Award ribbon - trust me, this is a treasured item (so treasured, I don't even have one)! Member's of the former Bush Administration are amongst the Bimbo Hall of Fame...
Without further delay, the February Bimbo Awards.
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AWARD WINNERS THIS MONTH:
BIMBOs: John Kerry surrogate Wade Sanders caught with child pornography, new-Senator Roland Burris (he also gets the bad grammar award, too,) a Birmingham City Councilman, a Republican donor who got a tax break and coincidentally contributed to President Clinton’s foundation, Brad Pitt, and Paris Hilton. (New word: ‘narcissism in the C-suite.’ Pass it on.)
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WRONG THING TO DO OR SAY: Toy company Ty Inc, ex-Merrill Lynch head John Thain, Citigroup flying high, and the head of the Alabama NAACP.
EXAMPLES OF CHANGE: The Pope follows Queen Elizabeth.
CLASS ACT: Brett Favre
VIDEO CATCH: Prince Harry
THE WINNING BIMBO…
Goes to...who else but Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. His oft repeated line, “I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing,” was voiced endlessly.
(He must be bucking for a book. That’s the only explanation for skipping his own impeachment trial to visit virtually every national TV outlet, including The View, where he refused Joy Behar’s request to say “I’m not a crook.” This was a surreal chapter in American politics.)
MSNBC, “Blagojevich: Corruption arrest ‘surreal,’” January 26, 2009
RUNNERS-UP…
“… the Americans are not your enemy,” was the headline from President Obama’s first television interview to Dubai-based Al Arabiya.
(Before my Democratic friends erupt at a “BIMBO” to our new President, please see the FULL BIMBO. While I recommend Foaud Ajami’s thoughtful commentary in The Wall Street Journal about the wrong message being sent to the authoritarian regimes, many other things the President is doing get high marks as successful strategies. The National Geographic video of him ordering a hamburger and chatting with one of the steward’s on Air Force One clearly shows he knows how to present himself to make people like him. Grumping and complaining that it’s not fair he’s so good and that he doesn’t really believe in reaching out is not going to help Republicans or conservatives.)
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The Wall Street Journal, “Obama Tells Arabia’s Despots They’re Safe,” Jan. 28, 2009
The New York Times, “U.S. Is ‘Not Your Enemy,’ Obama Tells Islamic World,” Jan. 28, 2009
The Wall Street Journal, “As Economy Falters, Doubts on Obama Plan Mount,” Jan. 28, 2009
“I want him to fail,” ostensibly said Rush Limbaugh.
(Before my Republican friends go ballistic, Limbaugh clearly put his comments in context, and the news media unfairly and gleefully portrayed it as a personal and mean comment. It was neither. But Limbaugh should have expected the out-of-context quotes. It matters because people who didn’t hear the original conversation with Sean Hannity or the discussions that ensued think that Limbaugh has a personal vendetta against our new President. See the full text on Rush Limbaugh website.)
MSNBC.com, “Limbaugh Challenging Notion of New politics,” Jan. 30, 2009
MOST OBNOXIOUS COMMENT…
“The cause of our problem was global, so I can’t say ‘sorry’ with any kind of sincerity,” said former Anglo Irish Bank CEO Sean FitzPatrick back in October, as the government ponied up $520 billion to prop-up Irish banks. On the same day he said the government needed to stop spending money on “sacred cows” like the elderly and children. Recently, auditors found that FitzPatrick had borrowed more than $100 million from the bank and hid the loans for eight years.
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(FitzPatrick resigned December 18th as the bank collapsed, a prime example of what scholar Mandred Kets De Vries, director of the INSEAD Global Leadership Centre calls, “Narcissism in the C-Suite.” See the FULL BIMBO for John Thain in “Wrong Thing to Do.”)
USAToday, “Irish stand united in hatred of this man: brash banker is poster boy for what went wrong,” Jan. 29, 2009
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