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| Nikki Haley |
Amnesia Nikki… In a light-as-air three-minute video announcing her quixotic quest for the presidency, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley said:
“You should know this about me: I don’t put up with bullies. And when you kick back, it hurts them more if you’re wearing heels.”
Cute but spare us.
The 51-year-old forgets that she faithfully served Donald Trump, one of the biggest bullies around, as his US ambassador to the United Nations.
Trump "graciously" forgives his former cabinet member for breaking her vow never to run against him. Well-played.
Flip-flopping Haley was a critic of Trump, then jumped on his bandwagon and now wants to jump off.
She now thinks Republicans need a new generation of leaders after the party lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections.
That’s true. Fresh blood is what the GOP needs, but it isn't going to flow from the arms of Haley.
In fact, she has as much of a chance to become the Republican presidential nominee as Liz Cheney, who was booted from party leadership, does.
A poll by North Star Opinion Research finds Cheney and Haley tied at four percent in the race for the GOP nod.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis leads the pact at 39 percent, followed by Trump at 28 percent and Mike Pence at nine percent.
Dream on, Nikki.
Trump Ditches "Meatball Ron" Moniker. Trump had been testing the “Meatball Ron'' nickname for the woke warrior of the Sunshine State.
On Feb. 18, Trump realized that the use of “Meatball Ron” is even below his in-the-gutter standards so he ended the test.
He posted on Truth Social.
“I will never call Ron DeSanctimonious ‘Meatball’ Ron, as the Fake News is insisting I will,” It would be totally inappropriate to use the word “meatball” as a moniker for Ron!”
What was Trump thinking? The seriously overweight stable genius had to be referring to DeSantis’ pudgy psychic. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Or did Trump want to impugn DeSantis’ Italian heritage? Would that have eventually evolved to “Mafiosi Ron” next?
There are around 18M Italian-Americans. Many of them vote. Prior to the "Meatball Ron" diss, a couple of them may have been tempted to vote for Trump.
There's no way they are now going to support "Meathead Don."
The spinner-in-chief praises Air India’s deal with Boeing as a boon to America’s manufacturing base.
The president said 'the historic agreement" will support more than one million US jobs in 44 states, producing 220 jets: 190 of Boeing's 737 Max single-aisle planes, 20 of 787 Dreamliners' widebodies and 10 777X models.
Left unsaid by Biden: Boeing’s archrival Airbus got a bigger deal from Air India.
The carrier is ordering 250 planes from Airbus.
The mega-deal makes one thing crystal clear: Air India is back.
The Economist said Air India, once considered a basket case of an airline while owned by the government, has been revitalized since being taken private in January 2022 by the Tata Group conglomerate.
Air India retains an option to buy an additional 50 Boeing planes.
Stand by, Joe.
Congratulations to Edelman as it becomes the first PR firm to crack the $1B annual revenue mark.
Richard Edelman reports global revenue grew 9.6 percent to 1.07B during 2022, which was the firm’s 70th anniversary year.
The firm fell a tad short of the billion mark in 2021 as revenues clocked in at $985M.
Edelman’s US revenue rose a healthy 13.8 percent to $703.4M, powered by the Los Angeles office (+24 percent), DC (+22 percent) and Chicago (+14 percent).
The firm’s No. 2 market, EMEA, showed 1.1 percent growth, led by good performances in Spain, Middle East and the UK.
Edelman also exceeded its diversity goals as racially and ethnically diverse staffers in the US reached the 31 percent mark ahead of its 30 percent goal.
As of January 2023, 56.3 percent of Edelman’s global leadership are women. In the US, 62 percent of leadership are women.
It isn’t so cheap “waking up” corporate America. The anti-ESG warriors in the Republican party are finding that blacklisting investment firms or companies supporting enlightened environmental, social and governance practices comes with a price.
A report by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Federal Reserve found that Texas municipalities shelled out an additional $303M to $532M in bond interest due to decisions by Citigroup and JPMorgan to exit the state.
Their departure decreased the competition for underwriting deals and pushed interest rates higher.
Seeing the handwriting on the wall, North Dakota overwhelmingly voted down a bill on Feb. 1 that would have triggered boycotts of financial biggies such as BlackRock, Credit Suisse and UBS Group for their ESG practices.
Sanity prevailed in The Peace Garden State.
A tip of the mitre goes to Cardinal Blasé Cupich for his strong statement condemning the Trump administration’s bid to turn the Iran war into entertainment... Donald Trump sets off on a wild little excursion... The president will never be mistaken for one of his predecessors, 'Unconditional Surrender' Grant... The Ig Nobels abandon Boston for Zurich because it's not exactly fun and games time in the USA.
Trump promotes Kristi Noem because he can't fire her. That would be an admission that he made a bad move in hiring her in the first place... The White House website maintains that the US "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capacity. So why are we currently turning it into rubble?... Americans overwhelmingly hate Trump's ballroom gambit.
Will mentalist Oz Pearlman read Donald Trump's mind at the White House Correspondents Assn. dinner next month? The nation would like to know what's going on between the president's ears... Defense Department quarterback Pete Hegseth compares Iranian war to a football game... Travel Nevada issues a gem of an RFP that describes "Nevadaness."
Omnicom and Interpublic have shed thousands of jobs since the announcement of the big merger, which may hinder future growth by turning off prospective talent... The Epstein Files are a gold mine to crisis PR pros looking for high-profile clients. 
The No. 1 fan of Big Macs dished out plenty of Whoppers during the State of the Union address... US embassy in the UK squeezes out CEO of Hanover Communications... Baltimore's biggest business improvement district looks for director of community engagement & safety... China takes Olympic gold in the sports-washing category.
