One reporter's revenge on Jeb Bush's aloof press secretary

[BurtWorm]

It's a funny piece, by a reporter for the alternative weekly Miami New Times, but it says something serious about Bushist control of the message: if you can't serve their ends, they will just plain ignore you. This has been a successful strategy for them, insofar as it has kept the media spinning for them, treating their insane message with far more gravity than it deserves. And it's not only the media Bushists treat this way; this goes for everybody.


http://www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2005-06-16/news/korten_1.html


Zen and the Art of Press Management
What is the sound of no phone ringing?
By Tristram Korten

....

One quick call from some pimply-faced intern with a "no comment" and they would have been rid of me. Instead they became the story: "The Press Office That Refuses to Return Calls." Soon, though, anger and frustration evolved into fascination. I was like one of those people confronted by Chauncey Gardiner's enigmatic quietude in Jerzy Kosinski's book Being There. What did the press office's silence mean? Were they offended? Was New Times not worthy of a response? Or was it something deeper? Were they trying to tell me there are no answers, only more questions?

Maybe I was dealing with a real swami here, so I decided to learn more about this Jacob DiPietre. The facts of his life were easy enough to uncover. He graduated from Northwest Missouri State University in 2000, worked briefly for a newspaper, then for a congressman named Sam Graves, until Bush hired him as his spokesman. At the tender age of 27 he earns $70,000 overseeing seven full-time employees and a budget of $554,509.

But I needed more. I wanted to know what motivates DiPietre to make the decisions he makes, answer the calls he answers -- or not. A major breakthrough came when I unearthed a story about him in the January 2005 issue of the Northwest Missourian newspaper. DiPietre revealed to the paper that before his life's passion was serving Republican politicians, he had lived to ignite school spirit in others. In fact DiPietre was his school's spirit. At the university he would climb into a big fuzzy cat suit with an oversize head and transform himself into Bobby the Bearcat, the school's mascot. Whoa.

"Jacob wasn't one of those guys you would think would be a real spunky Bobby," John Yates, DiPietre's cheerleading coach, told the Missourian. "Once he put on the outfit, though, he wasn't Jacob; he became Bobby and was very outgoing."


...

[tk2kewl]

1. That is TOOOOO funny!

:rofl: and recommended!

[CottonBear]

2. Obviously, Jacob DiPietre is a furry.

:sarcasm: :evilgrin:

edit: Weren't * and Trent Lott both cheerleaders as well?
I would love to see a picture! I'm sure the student paper or yearbook has lots! One of those pictures would make an excellent protest poster graphic!

[BurtWorm]

3. Yeah. What is it with those manly men on the far right? A pompom fetish?

:wtf:

[CottonBear]

4. They're really Girly Men!

Bwahahahahaha! :rofl:

[hlthe2b]

5. ok.. I've seen "furry" referred to twice this morning.

so, I'll ask... What is a "furry?"

[InternalDialogue]

6. Here you go -- have a blast!

http://www.laalternativepress.com/v02n01/features/williamson.php

[hlthe2b]

17. thank you for the explanation (!)

very, very strange.... But, what the hey...

[CottonBear]

7. I didn't know either until Vanity Fair ran an article about furries.

Frankly, I really wish I didn't know. It's weird, very weird.

[la la]

10. CSI - Las Vegas

had an episode about them, quite a while back ---and yes, berrry, berrry strange!

:freak: :freak: :freak: ( no disrespect to furries ;>) )

[hlthe2b]

16. OH, yes! I remember seeing at least some of that CSI episode...

truth is stranger than fiction, it seems. !

[TlalocW]

8. Best explanation ever

http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp03292003.shtml

TlalocW

[InternalDialogue]

11. "A cross between Caligula and Noah's Ark"

:rofl:

[TlalocW]

14. This guy has a running feud with furries

He's one of the wittier (and wordier) web cartoonists out there. Plus, I think his creative drive is fueled by getting people pissed off at him.

http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp04092005.shtml

This is a storyline that goes until March 12.
http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp03052005.shtml

TlalocW

[hlthe2b]

18. Leaves little to the imagination, that's for sure! LOL

:eyes:

[Canuckistanian]

9. Hilarious!

Although I get the feeling that it's just gross incompetence rather than full-blown hostility.

[BurtWorm]

12. I wouldn't be so sure it's so "innocent" or banal as that.

I think they really have contempt for people who aren't impressed enough by them to buy every word that falls out of their mouths.

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. I love Miami New Times

Dig through their archives. There's tons of good stuff there, especially about Jeb and CANF.

[Kurovski]

15. Well-played, and very amusing.

I also enjoyed the run-down of some of the deluded screwballs Jebbie chooses as judges for the state of Florida, it's too bad it's so easy for "Cracker Barrel" Jeb to give them the power.

Can Florida Dems do something to rectify that, or are they already working on that?