One man, with his twisted right-wing political views, not aligned with the mainstream GOP views, is moderating a GOP debate. Folks, you can’t make this stuff up.

Worse? The Donald has a preconceived outcome based on his own politics. He says if he doesn’t like candidates’ answers, he’s jumping in as an independent. Unbelievable!

CRISIS ALERT! Herman Cain Will Hold A News Conference at 5pmET Tuesday.–NBC News. Written on November 7, 2011

A little late. However, if true, it’ll be the first good crisis management move Mr. Cain has made since his sexual harassment troubles began. The fact is, these allegations and accusers will not go away. Reporters, like sharks, smell blood in the water. They too, are going no where.

Unfortunately, Mr. Cain lost control of the issue the moment he chose denial, pontification, and evasiveness as his preferred crisis management tactics.

To have any chance of changing subjects and focusing on his 9-9-9- tax plan or anything else, he must be prepared to answer all reporters’ questions at the presser until there are no more left. Either way, he may have taken a serious body blow this afternoon from which he may not fully recover.

As a provider of PR seminar targeted to domestic and international participants, all I can say is HALLELUIAH! and F I N A L L Y !

Speaking as one who has had to issue registration refunds to prospective international seminar registrants because they were turned down at our embassies for travel visas to the US, I am elated.

But, what took our genius elected officials so long?

“I mean $1.1 trillion international travel market?” More than a TRILLION dollars! More than one thousand billion in tourism dollars! And we are worried about jobs and our country’s deficit? UNBELIEVABLE!

Now, if only there were some fast-track way to bring this thing to fruition. My small business will thank them. Any idea how I can track this piece of legislation?

Emmanuel A. Smart

http://www.smartexpressions.com/Sign-up.html

via Dept of Justice blocks T-mobile/AT&T Merger..

In selling the proposed merger to its investors, initially, AT&T touted big savings from nearly 20,000 job cuts. To persuade the DOJ after the lawsuit, AT&T now says it’ll actually add 5,000 new jobs and increase investment significantly in the US. In other words, no lawsuit, no jobs? This PR, to me, borders on unethical.

How to Get Back to AAA (Hint: It’s Easier Than You Think) – The Atlantic.

In his piece, Mr. Forbes compares today’s News Corp’s phone hacking crisis with Mr. Rupert Murdoch’s company’s excessive debt and almost certain bankruptcy about twenty years ago. In that crisis, Mr. Murdoch was said to have successfully applied tools of crisis management, survived, and even thrived.

Where I beg to differ with Mr. Forbes, however, is that this is different. More than finances or money, this “Mother of all CRISES” damages his most important asset, his BRAND.

Comparing the pre-internet, pre-blogs and pre-twitter excessive debt and bankruptcy “crisis,” twenty years ago, to today’s potentially felony phone hacking crisis, is comparing apples and oranges. True, the bankruptcy case may have been tough, managing its fallout, however, was straightforward. It had the key elements necessary for a successful crisis management.

It had exigency, a clearly defined crisis brought about by Mr. Murdoch’s company’s excessive debt and subsequent potential for bankruptcy. It had a leader of the conglomerate, Mr. Murdoch himself, willing to get into the “trenches” and make things right. In addition, there were heads of banks and other financial institutions with whom to communicate, ask forgiveness, and negotiate modified payment terms, and so on. This set of people had just one common interest: to ensure they got paid what was owed to them so they don’t lose their investments. Indeed, according to Mr. Forbes, Mr Murdoch met with them, acknowledged the seriousness of the issue and committed to fix what was wrong, and voila!

Unfortunately, unlike the bankruptcy crisis, this crisis has too many moving parts; too many competing interests, with too many possible outcomes. The scandal’s reaches are too long, too wide and too deep for a quick crisis resolution. Worse, it is ongoing with almost no end in sight. To say nothing of feeding frenzy from competitors who would like nothing than seeing Murdoch’s Media Empire fall.

Can Mr. Murdock survive and thrive financially? Yes. This write-up, however, is about something much more than money. It is about the risk to his BRAND. With these endless investigations, in the end, Rupert Murdoch’s BRAND may be irreparably damaged whether or not he is cleared of any wrongdoing.

Emmanuel A. Smart is President of Smart Expressions, a Strategic Public Relations and Corporate Communication firm based in Houston, TX; He teaches strategies, tactics and tools of communication, offering onsite and monthly public seminar, consulting and design services. More information, visit http://www.smartexpressions.com