Media and the professional left have been jaw-agape, pearl-clutching amid their discussion of the appropriateness for Donald Trump to directly confront corporate CEO’s about their business models.
Initially their angst was simply because Donald Trump had the audacity to begin staking a pro-worker, “America First” jobs position with Carrier Inc.  The workers won.
President Trump then shifted slightly and spoke toward government contractors such as Boeing (Air Force One Contract) and Lockheed Martin… challenging their costs:

President-elect Trump took stewardship to an entire new level when tasking two competitors, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, for comparative bids and lower costs.  The approach is brilliant.
According to their own report, the F-35 program is Lockheed Martin’s largest program, generating 59% of Aeronautics’ net sales in 2015. (link) Lockheed receives 78% of their $46.1 billion in net sales from the U.S. Government.
(more…)

(Via Reuters) The Obama administration on Friday allowed the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements, defying pressure from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as well as Israel and several U.S. senators who urged Washington to use its veto.
The resolution was put forward at the 15-member council for a vote on Friday by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal a day after Egypt withdrew it under pressure from Israel and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Israel and Trump had called on the United States to veto the measure.
It was adopted with 14 votes in favor, to a round of applause. It is the first resolution the Security Council has adopted on Israel and the Palestinians in nearly eight years.
(more…)

A picture tells a thousand words.

Facing the new normal.  There are over 2,500 Christmas Markets throughout Germany, including 60 in Berlin.

 […] “We cannot go on denying there is a link between Merkel’s migration policy and these attacks, or we will prepare that ground for more of these attacks.”  (link)

A rather funny article today in Politico outlines a fear of Trump’s coalition amid congressional republicans.

The article is sympathetic to the GOPe wing of the DC UniParty from a perspective of those nasty Trumpers, ie. “the posse“; and includes South Carolina Rep Mark Sanford as a testimonial of their fear:

[…]  “Nobody wants to go first,” said Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), who received nasty phone calls, letters and tweets after he penned an August op-ed in The New York Times, calling on Trump to release his tax returns. “People are naturally reticent to be the first out of the block for fear of Sean Hannity, for fear of Breitbart, for fear of local folks.”

O.M.G…  The Horror!   Can you possibly imagine the audacity of the voters to actually express an opinion toward the professional political class?  Just who do these plebes think they are? (more…)

During the height of the 2016 presidential election a church in Mississippi was burned and the wording “Vote Trump” was painted on the outside of the building.

“The animus of this election cycle combined with the potent racial history of burning black churches as a political symbol makes this event something we must not ignore”.

The media sold the narrative of ‘Trump supporter hate’ as the origin of the crime.  Today, it is revealed the arson was a politically motivated manufactured hate crime.

MISSISSIPPI – An arrest has been made in the Greenville church burning.
Andrew McClinton, 45, of Leland, was arrested Wednesday for setting Hopewell Baptist Church on fire and scrawling “Vote Trump” on the side in spray paint, according to Warren Strain with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation. McClinton has been charged with one count of first degree arson of a place of worship, Strain said.
(more…)

Do the math within the timeline provided in this story and you will find the substance for the headline. Since the 2009 Obama speech in Cairo we have discussed the consequences against the backdrop of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria and the larger mid-east.
Within the accompanying research and discussion – years ago Zurich Mike coined the phrase: “Obama killed the Mid-East Zookeepers, unlocked the big cat cages,  and just walked away”…

The coded messaging within the June 2009 speech in Cairo was a message to the Middle East that America would no longer protect the various dictators, and it was safe to attack them.  The Obama administration would accept their replacements, regardless of how they assumed power. The message (speech here) was transparently obvious to those who understood the ramifications.

Well….
(Via Daily Mail) The Tunisian terror suspect wanted in connection with the Berlin Christmas market atrocity spent four years in an Italian jail before moving to Germany, his father revealed today.
Anis Amri settled in Italy after leaving his hometown of Tataouine, *Tunisia seven years ago to travel to Europe as an illegal immigrant, his father claimed in a radio interview. [*note, he would have been 17-years-old]
Amri, who has a €100,000 reward on his head, spent *four years in an Italian jail after burning down a school before leaving the country for Germany last year. [*note, the terrorist would have been 20-years-old at the time].
(more…)

This is the second terrorist attack within hours following the recapturing of Aleppo Syria from the control of ISIS and Islamic extremists.
Initial reports from Berlin Germany state at least nine people killed and more than 50 injured after a semi-truck ploughed into a crowd of shoppers at a busy Christmas market. According to European Media German police at the scene indicate the incident is “likely to be a terrorist attack”.
The truck is reported to have originated in Poland.  The attack is similar to the earlier terrorist attack in Niece France.  The jihadist drove into the large crowd at approximately 8pm local time (2pm New York).

(Via Daily Mail) […]  The vehicle sped through a crowd of shoppers at the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz Square near the Kurfuerstendamm Avenue in west Berlin.
(more…)

Here’s an opportunity for you to assemble your thoughts for the upcoming Trump administration against the backdrop of the modern media engagement therein.
Ultimately you are the customer in this equation. What suggestions would you provide to a Trump administration to deliver a communications product?

My personal suggestions:
♦ Keep using twitter daily, or as determined.  Keep using social media, and/or any alternate communications platforms to communicate with the American People.
♦ Establish dress code for credentialed media.  No casual days, ever.  100% business professional, 100% of the time.
(more…)

This Christmas holiday we hope you will remember:

…There are opinions that matter, and opinions that matter more…

 

(more…)

WASHINGTON DC – Washington and Beijing have agreed to terms to return a Navy drone captured in the disputed waters of the South China Sea to the U.S., the Pentagon announced Saturday.
[…]  China’s decision to release the drone Saturday, came hours after President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to slam Beijing’s actions.  (read more)
(more…)