Gibbs says left-wing critics of Obama "Ought to be drug tested."

by Ken Feltman of Radnor Inc. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs is showing what stress can do to a presidential press secretary. Today he blasted liberal critics of President Obama: 'They will be satisfied when we have Canadian healthcare and we've eliminated the Pentagon. That's not reality.' Gibbs is not alone. White House staff members are confiding to friends that the atmosphere is at best pessimistic. Some staff complain that they get hostile stares from top-level presidential ...
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Gibbs says Missouri vote means "Nothing"

by Ken Feltman of Radnor Inc. A reader's question: 'You have not talked about healthcare much lately. Is it fading as an issue? No, as shown last Tuesday by the 71 percent of Missouri voters who approved prohibiting the federal government from requiring people to buy health insurance. Ask what the Missouri vote meant, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, 'nothing.' Gibbs may be correct that the federal government can preempt state law on health insurance. But in glibly ...
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What? Are you kidding? Another Bush?

By Ken Feltman of Radnor Inc. All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances.- Shakespeare As President Obama's poll numbers plunge and members of his own party begin to attack him, Republicans debating whether to run in 2012 are feeling more optimistic. Are things really that bullish for potential GOP candidates? Polls and focus groups confirm reasons for GOP enthusiasm. The most positive thing Democrats say is that it is too ...
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Does the Financial Media Have a Clue?

Everyday there are good news and there are bad news. Media chooses the headline based on how the stock market reacts. If market declines, bad news is presented on headlines. If stocks advance, good news is in the front. But earnings do not rive the stocks. Good earnings appear at the market top. Earnings decline AFTER the market declines: http://www.tradingstocks.net/html/earnings_does_not_drive_stocks.html Social mood directs the markets, economy, politics and the culture. When ...
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Why I Miss Mike Royko

by Mark Rhoads The legendary Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Mike Royko died in 1997. Over his career, he worked for three different Chicago newspapers. I often miss his take on topics in the news today, but most of all in recent weeks because I think only Royko could have maximized the real entertainment value of the Blagojevich trial in a way that would do justice to the characters. For example, many decades ago Mike ran his own contest to design a new city seal for Chicago. The ...
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Whole lotta gaffes goin’ on!

by Ken Feltman of Radnor Inc. A word to the wise ain't necessary ' it's the stupid ones that need the advice.- Bill Cosby Bill Cosby practices tough love. Hundreds, probably thousands of people who have descended on Washington recently may need a little tough love, too. Many perceive that Washington is the new financial and media capital of the United States, maybe the world. They must be here to protect their clients' interests and their own. But many newcomers are not doing well. ...
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Can a Worm Teach a Politician Anything?

By Ken Feltman of Radnor Inc. It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world as have these lowly organized creatures.- Charles Darwin on the earthworm Christopher Lloyd of Cambridge University has written an interesting book about the contributions of different species to today's life on earth. He ranks earthworms as most important. Algae is second. Homo sapiens come sixth. Lloyd's analysis took me back to an ...
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Democrats and the Tea Party

By Ken Feltman of Radnor Inc. Democrats seem to think that candidates nominated in Republican primaries with the help of the Tea Parties will be easier to defeat in November. Many of those candidates hold extreme views, out of the GOP mainstream and divorced from the prevailing views of the electorate. The Democrats need to take another look at those candidates. They are doing better than expected in the polls. In response to that, many Democrats say that when the voters learn how extreme ...
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The 3 a.m. Call

By Ken Feltman of Radnor Inc.Leadership is solving problems.- Colin Powell 1. Louisiana: Many emotions What a mess! Drive down Route 23 along the Mississippi River from New Orleans and turn right on Tide Water Road south of Venice. You come to a place where the land gives way to marshes. Then the marshes give way to brackish waters. The Gulf of Mexico is just beyond. See the vastness of the Delta and the ecosystem these waters support. You need a boat to travel farther. Turn around and drive ...
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John Thune and Nikki Haley?

by Ken Feltman of Radnor Inc.As predicted in an earlier Radnor Report, Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) has begun to raise his visibility. He is testing the waters for a possible presidential campaign. Obama's seeming weakness has encouraged him. Meantime, Nikki Haley is not even the Republican nominee for South Carolina governor and she is being mentioned as a vice presidential possibility in 2012. Attacks by misogynists in the South Carolina Republican Party increased Haley's competitive resolve ...
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