The Network
Years ago, I worked for a Fortune 500 Corporation in the role of Communications Specialist. Clearly, I was not. But during that time, I learned a great deal about how things should be communicated. One of the rules I was made aware of during that time was that under no circumstances was a company logo to appear in print, on tee shirts, embroidered, in advertisements; NOWHERE without the expressed blessing of the legal department. Having the logo appear with another gave the appearance of endorsement and was forbidden unless done so at the highest level.
Skip ahead to this weeks’ episode of Madame Secretary. The main character gives a most eloquent speech regarding the need for all US citizens to pull together and it is done so via the advice of counsel from former Secretaries of State. The current Secretary of State is an ACTOR. The former Secretaries were all actual former Secretaries of State. Am I the only one that finds this curious? Colin Powell served as a Republican under George Bush; Madeline Albrecht served under Bill Clinton and Hilary Clinton under Barack Obama. Two of the three are Democrats and by his own admission, Colin Powell (despite being a Republican) endorsed Barack Obama.
Why not use three additional actors? Why is it necessary to bring in actual former Secretaries of State? The reason lies in my first paragraph. It is an endorsement. My concern lies in that there is clearly no endorsement to/from the current administration. While the message is for everyone to unite, the action and the visual is that everyone should unite against the current administration.
Party politics is something that I personally do not endorse. I don’t know how someone can just pull a lever, mark an X in a box or however you vote – do so simply because the person is running on this parties ticket or that. I vote for the person I like the best; the person I have the most confidence in and the one that I feel will address the things that I feel are the biggest problems. More times than not I do not vote for the person who wins – and I find myself years later pleasantly surprised at some of the things they have accomplished. I don’t feel the need to sit and complain; to undermine their efforts, or to speak out against them. The vote was completed. The winner has the job. Let’s get behind him/her and see what they can do.
This is different. This time we have an awful lot of energy going out to rock the boat. This episode of a network show (that I do not particularly watch) is claiming to try to calm the seas – but they are rocking the boat. SNL rocks the boat. They do so under the guise of humor – but what is that expression? “The truest things are said in gest?”
Please take a moment and really look at the information that we are being given and see it for what it is. I am at the point where I do not even want to watch network TV (and cable is coming close) because everything has a political bottom line.
If politicians were more like regular people – if they lived more like you and I; had our insurance, made our level of salary, walked the streets without a guard detail, maybe they would think more like you and I. Then maybe they would see “our” problems for what they are and work to fix them. After all – they are on “OUR” payroll.