Bracing for the Expected

Which of these stunners made your heart stop this week?

(1) Monday's New York Post scoop about Tony "Paulie Walnuts" Sirico's past life as an actual mobster, a rehash of an old Smoking Gun story (they cite the source, but fail to mention that this "newly published document" was first posted on TSG in 2001).

(2) Microsoft's postponement of its Windows Vista release.

(3) Bush's press conference remark yesterday that US troops will be in Iraq at least through the end of his term in office.

So here's the key to PR success in the 21st century: embrace others' low expectations. No matter how much egg you may have on your face, if you can restrict your bad press to the realm of the expected, you can get away with anything.