Sean Conley
Sean Conley

Caught behind a rock and a hard place is president Trump’s physician Sean Conley, who has been roundly criticized for his upbeat assessments of our COVID-19-stricken tweeter-in-chief.

The Financial Times ridiculed Conley as Trump’s cheerleader-in-chief, who casts the president in an unflinchingly positive light.

Conley has been called a publicist in a white lab coat for saying, “I was trying to reflect the upbeat attitude that the team, the president, over his course of illness, has had,” or triumphantly announcing, “He’s back."

As a US Navy trauma doctor, Conley served in Afghanistan, where he treated soldiers with life-threatening injuries.

The FT notes that as a military doctor Conley technically must defer to the president as commander-in-chief. The trauma doctor never could have imagined the drama involved in serving a patient as unhinged as Trump.

Goodbye. Ruby Tuesday. It didn’t take a genius to know that headline writers would reference the Rolling Stones 1967 classic on stories about the casual dining restaurant chain going belly-up.

That’s why Ruby Tuesday CEO Shawn Lederman said in the company's Oct. 7 Chapter 11 press release: “This announcement does not mean “Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday.”

He went on to say that the financial restructuring “is a critical step in our transformation for long-term financial health—this is 'Hello,' to a stronger Ruby Tuesday.”

There’s even a new logo with the tagline “Hello, Ruby Tuesday: Restructuring to be Better than Ever.”

Lederman was less upbeat in the court filing, saying that the 185 restaurants that were shut down during the pandemic are now permanently closed. That leaves about 235 company-owned and operated franchises.

About 7,000 of Ruby Tuesday’s 7,300 employees have been temporarily furloughed.

The Maryville, TN-based company, which was founded in 1972, distributed a fact sheet to “laid off team members” informing them they “are no longer Ruby Tuesday employees and will not be recalled to work.”

It told them they will receive no further compensation from the company and advised them to file for unemployment benefits.

“We also encourage team members to stay abreast of local news updates as some restaurants and school systems have committed to provide free meals for children during this time,” says the fact sheet. Ruby Tuesday also provided a list of charities that offer free meals and rental assistance.

As the Stones sing: “Ain’t life unkind.” Amen to that, say Ruby Tuesday employees.

Elon Musk crashes Tesla’s PR department, according to the Electrek green energy blog, which reported that journalists haven’t received replies to their questions from the automaker in months.

But that doesn’t mean that Tesla has pulled the plug on its communications outreach.

Tesla has paid five different lobbying firms to do its bidding in DC during 2020.

Musk’s company spent $210K on lobbying during the first half of 2020 at Fulcrum Public Affairs, Holland & Knight, Phoenix Global Organization Inc., Tai Ginsberg & Assocs. and West Front Strategies.

The powerful Cassidy & Assocs. joined the lobbying team on Sept. 29. Kai Anderson, deputy chief of staff to former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, leads the push on issues such as tax credits and transportation electrification matters.

Tesla is no shrinking flower on Capitol Hill.