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More Optimism! And Some Melancholy, Too!

Shai Agassi and T. Boone Pickens. Not two names you'd expect to see together. And sure, at first glance one may "trust" Mr. Agassi more than Mr. Pickens. I mean...what could that old oil man Mr. Pickens' motives possibly be with his suddenly altruistic urge to reduce our dependence on foreign oil? Well, making money of course! And what the heck is wrong with that? Didn't I already mention last week that where making money and helping the environment align, it's all good?

As for Mr. Agassi, he left SAP a year ago and is trying to set up a newfangled electric car and electric fueling infrastructure grid in Israel. Thomas Friedman writes about these two folks in yesterday's New York Times. I found the op-ed inspiring and hope you do too.

On the less inspiring side is Ford Motor Company, which according to financial analyst Eric Fox, is "navigating by rear-view mirror." Last week, Ford announced an $8.7 billion loss for its most recent quarter. Ford has relied too heavily on light truck and SUV sales for many years. And now it is fighting for its survival. Are you feeling empathy for Ford? Well, you're likely not a member of the the Sierra Club. Check out this humorous ditty. Seacrest Out!

R.I.P. Randy Pausch

The Agony of Defeat

Want to see what death looks like up close? Then you should read today's Wall Street Journal front page article on General Motors. Better yet, join the conversation in this blog posting to vote on which GM brands the company should kill or sell off. My vote: 1) Hummer; 2) Saab. And perhaps Saturn would be better shepherded in someone else's hands.

Said post also includes a link to the aforementioned article. The impact of GM's continued faltering obviously has an enormously negative impact on our nation's economy. Or in layperson's terms: yowsah!

Out of Touch

Do you remember that painfully awful "Hall & Oates" song from 1984 called "Out of Touch?" Well, John McCain gaining national press headlines regarding his intent to "call for building" 45 new nuclear reactors if elected President reveals a candidate who appears hopelessly out of touch. If this is seriously part of his platform, he will be massacred in November.

And JP in the East Bay, please don't send me hate email. You know I'm not a Dukakis chaser. I'm just calling it as I see it, and the way I see it, things don't look so good. For McCain.

Looking for Smart Observations About the Scott McClellan Book Pandemonium?

As this story begins to fade away, I still haven't posted any of my thoughts on this. And frankly, my observations are now 'mush.' That said, here are some random reflections:

• I won't be among the Scott McClellan bashers. Candidly, I had been looking forward to this book being published for awhile. He owes the Bush administration no more loyalty than they showed him. He had a brutally difficult job dealing with incredible dualities...as in, "I'm an honest person with integrity, and yet I'm selling myself out in the biggest of ways by getting my head bashed in night after night telling falsehoods or obscuring the truth." Obviously that's not a real quote!
• Come to think of it, the buzz in advance of this book began many months ago, so feigned surprise by observers is really a bunch of BS. In fact, I'm betting the Republican spin machine was ready with a generic response awhile ago. As early as late last Summer, it was very clear this book was coming down, and that it was going to be a head turner.
• It's still not really clear to me what McClellan's main motive was in putting this book out, beside the money. Was it really to stop the process of permanent campaigning and bring the two parties together in a spirit of bipartisanship? Mission NOT accomplished. And I've got to tell you, once Obama really starts flinging the 'four more years of Bush' slam against McCain, we'll experience the loveliness of even more divisiveness.
• BTW, I can't say that I won't be more receptive to that Obama message, particularly after seeing the Republican response to the McClellan book, which sickened me. I don't want to pay more taxes, but we desperately need a change. Call me undecided...but that's a change for me.
• Naivete abounds in the broadcasting world. King of the Naivete award goes to Anderson Cooper of CNN, who revealed that he has no idea how public relations works, particularly at an executive, or executive office level. My favorite was his surprise that the Bush administration would deploy a chief spokesperson to represent the White House who was not fully 'in the know.' Duh!!! That's the whole point. Either he knew this and was being coy or he is missing a pretty critical microprocessor.
• The snake award goes to Ari Fleischer. Oh yeah, he 'gets' PR, and he certainly ran point for the Administration these past few days. What a sleaze. I loved how he kept insinuating that McClellan's career was over. Right, and like any of the top ten PR firms on the planet won't hire him, and pay him handsomely.
• The hero award goes to NBC White House Correspondent David Gregory, who unemotionally asked a series of great questions to a pretty high quality panel of guests on an MSNBC show that aired on Wednesday night. Very informative. And yes, it was David Gregory who used to get fairly PO'd at McClellan during many a press conference back in the day.
• The goat award goes to Bill O'Reilly, whose partisanship and bullheadedly one-sided view of the story was clearly on display both on Wednesday and last nights. Practicing low- brow journalism at its worst, O'Reilly couldn't wait to get to his second story of the night on Wednesday...about some freakin' schoolgirl fight that aired on YouTube. Bill, please feed us more mind numbingly dumb Big Macs to the brain, so we can become even fatter and dumber than we already are.
• I also give myself a goat award. Back in late 2002 I was constantly telling my wife that we were getting sucked into a 'Wag the Dog' campaign. It was really a concern to me. And then what? By the time we invaded I got sucked in by the fervor...the patriotism of it all. By mid-2003 I was trouncing around my gym in a "Boycott France" t-shirt. Lesson learned! OK...let's not get crazy. It's not like I'm wearing "I love Barbara Boxer" t-shirts at the gym nowadays. But lesson learned.
• And oh yes, I'm looking forward to reading this book. Consider the source.

So As I was Saying...

You may like Ted Kennedy...or not. But I have to believe that anyone with a soul would empathize with his current health condition.
As I mentioned yesterday, I am no fan...but dare I say that I still respect him as a politician and pray for a miracle. There are few if any good ways to go, but brain cancer is among the more miserable exit paths. G-d speed, Senator.

I Don't Like Ted Kennedy

I don't like most of what he stands for. I don't like his phoniness and insincerity. His character and integrity certainly don't impress me (need I really go any further)? In fact, I really don't like any of the Kennedys, particularly Papa Joe. And yet, like anyone with any empathy, I really felt awful when I heard of his seizure on Saturday, and certainly wish Senator Kennedy the speediest and healthiest of recoveries. Although I don't admire him, he has had an admirable career. Most importantly, he is human, and I do believe his beliefs and actions are mostly well-intentioned.
It's interesting how moments of anguish can often bring divided people together. Things like one's health obviously transcend politics. And yet in comes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to bring us back to earth. On Saturday, in response to Senator Kennedy's hospitalization, he was widely quoted as saying the following: "The one thing I can say, if there ever was a fighter, anyone who stood for what we as Americans, we as Democrats, stand for, it's Ted Kennedy."
If he had only not said, "we as Democrats," he would have risen above the occasion. But no, Senator Reid has to make someone's acute health issue merely about divisive politics.
I'm not a Democrat. I'm not a Republican. There are a lot of us in the great big middle. Are we not American? Are we not fighters?

Rob Hoff Gets It

Rob Hoff from BusinessWeek hit it out of the park yesterday with this blog post in "the Tech Beat" that analyzes the Yahoo! Board's response to Carl Icahn's recent missives. This is a recommended read. Bonus? A hilarious headline as well. Incidentally, you can say that traditional media are dying, but I have to give it to the ever-shrinking hard copy BusinessWeek for nicely integrating its blog content with its magazine and traditional online coverage.

News Alert! Bay Area Heat Wave!!

Maybe the Straight Talk Express Should Be Less Straight

John McCain did not do himself any favors today by proclaiming the Iraq War can be won by 2013. On one hand, that feels like an eternity from now. And on the other hand, our recent track record in predicting the outcome of wars isn't admirable. The Dems are going to kick his tail on this one, and perhaps rightfully so. Just my opinion, of course.