Online Public Relations Thoughts

I've just returned from two weeks in Morocco where our small tour group was saturated in the history, languages, culture, agriculture and architecture of the country.  The dominant tongues are Arabic, Berber and French and our guide spoke all three.  He was a font of information, shifting easily from one topic to another and enlivening bus trips with observations about the countryside we were passing. Morocco is a poor country striving to emerge in the 20th Century and not yet in the 21st.  There are still a prevalence of donkeys, mules and horses used as beasts of burden with men pulling two-wheel carts to the marketplaces.  Cars, motorcycles and three-wheeled bikes abound.  Streets are chaotic.  Soldiers and police are everywhere as a guard against terrorism.  There is a king and a parliament and they are working to move the country forward, but it is hard.  Morocco's dominant industries are phosphate mining and agriculture, but the country is in the worst drought of the last 40 years. It is struggling to feed its people.  Water is everything.  The country is dry and on the edge of the Sahara.  Its condition today is a testament to climate change and what it can do to populations.  All in all, an instructive trip and well worth 14 days.   

Any institution that turns over its leadership quickly is stating to the public that it is in turmoil.  It can't settle on an executive to head the organization and repeated tries only make the situation worse.  That is the situation in which Michigan State finds itself now.  It's latest President stepped down because he could no longer work with the board. He is the third to leave in just a few years.  There is only one course for the academic institution.  Find a president who will stay for a long term and stabilize the university.  That is easier said than done.  Meanwhile, Michigan State's reputation is in jeopardy until the situation is corrected.  

President Biden has strong words for Putin who is threatening to use tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Don't do it.  The president warns of Armageddon should Putin use the armaments.  He is jawboning not only Russia but preparing the world for a response should an incident occur.  It will be ugly and may develop into a world war.  Biden says Putin is a rational actor, but he acknowledges that Putin has backed himself into a corner.  Should Putin not make headway with the 300,000 citizens he has called up, he will be tempted to fire rockets with nuclear warheads.  That would change the world as we know it for the worse.  It would be Armageddon and everyone would lose.  

The Los Angeles Council President has resigned over racial remarks she made in private that were recorded and leaked to the media.  She said the comments were made during a time of intense frustration, which comes through in the tone of her voice.  That's no defense in the public's eye, and she knows it.  The real question is how could she not know it would be revealed?  In the internet age, all communications, verbal or otherwise, are subject to discovery.  Politicians have to watch their words at all times and discipline their thinking.  Celebrities are in the same situation as Kanye West is finding out. There is no excuse at any time for the use of racist language.  Public figures are being held to a higher standard, which is good.  

Russian President Putin is lashing out at Ukraine in revenge for the destruction of the Crimean bridge.  He says he is targeting infrastructure but he is also aiming at civilians with indiscriminate rocket and drone fire.  He calls the Ukrainians terrorists but he is the terrorist killing civilians and soldiers alike without distinction.  His message to Ukrainians is that he will murder them where they live and they are not beyond his reach.  It's a horrifying statement coming true day by day and barbaric. There are no rules in his conception of war.   

In Georgia, a former football hero is getting a bye from the Republican party.  He has the GOP's full support although he has lied publicly at least three times about his bio.  Normally that would sink a candidate but memories of his exploits on the field remain large.  He is a celebrity who has done no wrong in the eyes of the party and its supporters.  Whether this will help him on election day is not clear but he apparently has tumbled in the polls since another fact has come out that he paid for a girlfriend's abortion although he claims to be anti-abortion.  Should he go down to defeat it will be a reminder to political parties that celebrity isn't everything in a candidate.  The public wants to know if there is substance behind name recognition. You can't fool everyone all of the time.  

Ukraine's steady advances against Russian armor and troops is a moment of danger.  There is no telling what Russia will do but it is certain to counter attack at some point and Ukraine will be facing a different kind of warfare.  Is it ready?  Are its troops prepared for the grind of war and possibly the need to fall back?  What messages should Zelenskyy be sending to the soldiers and civilians?  Above all, there should be a note of caution, of acknowledging hard fighting ahead, particularly as 300,000 fresh Russian troops arrive at the front.  Ukraine's gains are satisfying for its citizens and military but they could be illusory.  There is more to this war to come.