By Fraser P. Seitel
Say this for Ralph Lauren: He sure knows damage control.
The designer found himself in hot water last week after his freshly-designed 2012 U.S. Men’s/Women’s Olympic wear was introduced, including preppie slacks and skirt, shirt and beret.
Beret?!?
What could say “U.S. of A” more than a jaunty, blue beret? As American as a Charlotte Russe.
When Olympians modeling the new garb resembled a cross between Pepe Le Peu and Curtis Sliwa, the blogosphere and cable TV exploded. But that was just the start.
When it was revealed that U.S. Olympic goods were to be manufactured in China, the beret really hit the fan – from both sides of the aisle! Republican John Boehner shook his head in disbelief, and Democrat Harry Reid snarled, “Burn ‘em.”
When the do-nothing opportunists in the U.S. Congress single you out for grief, it’s time to cut and run. And Mr. Lauren got the message. He announced immediately that next time around, at the 2014 Winter Games, his fashion creations would all be “made in the U.S.A.”
And with that one deft, strategic announcement, Ralph Lauren dodged the controversy (and kept his beret!).
If only Jesse Jackson, Jr. was listening.
Mr. Jackson, the 17-year Chicago Congressman with the famous father, has been missing in action for more than a month. He has missed 80 votes and countless meetings, leaving his Southside constituents representativeless (not that that’s necessarily a bad thing!).
Meanwhile, the Congressman’s office has steadfastly stonewalled the situation, saying for weeks that Jackson “had taken a medical leave.” After the situation went viral, the Jackson camp amended the earlier statement, acknowledging that Jackson had “had grappled with certain physical and emotional ailments privately for a long period of time. At present, he is undergoing further evaluation and treatment at an in-patient medical facility.”
This was followed by emotional pleas from the Congressman’s mother and father, asking the public to desist from nosing around further and to allow their son some privacy.
Sorry Mom and Dad. It ain’t happening.
Sadly, once a figure becomes “public,” he or she abdicates, to a great degree, the “right to privacy.” Perhaps that’s not fair, but that’s the way it is.
It’s inevitable that over 17 years in the kindergarten that is the U.S. Congress, Rep. Jackson has amassed his share of enemies – not counting the significant numbers who’ve lined up against his father over the years.
It’s axiomatic in public relations that nature abhors a vacuum. And one’s enemies are more than happy to fill in the void created by silence. That’s why the rumors for the reason of Jackson’s absence have run the gamut from drugs to alcohol to women to nervous breakdown to suicide.
And they won’t stop until Jackson’s office gets specific about what ails him.
All the Congressman’s colleagues need do is look at what has happened in the recent past to their colleagues.
In 2006, Dem. Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car into a Capitol Hill barrier. The next day, Kennedy announced he suffered from a mental disorder. He immediately took a rehab sabbatical and returned to the Congress after treatment.
In 2011, Dem. Rep. Anthony Wiener continually denied reports that he had sexted young women. Wiener defied reporters with the temerity to accuse him of such inappropriate behavior. His denials, of course, lasted just until recipients of his saucy messages and revealing photos came forward to usher the New Yorker out of Congress.
Kennedy chose to fess up. Weiner chose to stonewall and deny.
Paging Congressman Jackson.
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