Watching Barack Obama on his farewell tour of Europe, the astute analyst can see the strain in relationships, the concern, and the political upheaval a Trump presidency forebodes. Added to this catalytic cataclysm of international détente are the “all in” PR firms, major businesses, banking interests and a score of EU officials who seem in a panic now. When I read this desperate diatribe on the APCO Worldwide’s Forum, any doubt I had as to whether or not President-elect Trump intends to follow up on his campaign promise were gone. If APCO is “all in” in opposition to a president who has not even taken office yet, rest assured that “swamp” Trump swore he’d drain is quivering in fear now. The piece is timely in that Obama is in Germany, and because Germany is in a mess over his administration’s “arm twisting” to get Europe in line.
APCO’s Founder and Executive, Margery Kruas does not condone rash behavior, I know because I interviewed and profiled her several times while I was managing editor at Everything PR News. So if APCO is fighting a future president, you can bet your bottom dollar there’s trillions in business and political interest standing behind. What we saw before the election, the media control and massive support for a Clinton White House, now carries through to a political crisis for the whole western hemisphere. That “glass ceiling” of a woman in the White House we all heard parroted ad nauseam to America, it did not originate from Clinton campaign boss John Podesta. I won’t delve too deeply into this because I like and respect Margery Kraus from past experience. However, suffice it to say APCO going “whole hog” against a new Washington ruling class is symbolic. For APCO’s connection to this left-wing swamp in America’s capital, perhaps Kraus’ firm just has to throw down. The past and allegations of malfeasance now surround some executives, but enough said here. APCO, like hundreds of other Clinton/Obama beneficiaries, probably did not expect to be in a position to fear a “swamp cleaning”, but here we are.
APCO is not the only big PR firm submerged in the green gunk of governmental swamps worldwide. MWW’s boss Michael Kempner has been on the fringes of Democratic Party messes some years, only recently having been criticized for hiring the now notorious Michael Weiner of FBI investigation fame. Kempner, who I also interviewed and once considered a friend, has been a very powerful and effective cog in the neo-socialist wheel of American policy. MWW and Kempner were part Barack Obama’s “go to” public relations advising, and a company that leaped off the LGBT cliff alongside the far left ideologies the Democrats milked. The state of Israel hired MWW to publicize its gay and Hispanic friendly resorts only recently and Kempner was one of the first too add an LGBT arm to his firm’s repertoire of services. The New York Times reported in 2014:
“MWW, a leading independent public relations agency, will announce on Monday that it is acquiring a firm that specializes in reaching consumers who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.”
The reason I include these powerful PR personalities is the fact of their companies’ power-client bases. Many of the corporations you see paying them for PR services are the same as in Clinton Foundation donor roles, and coinciding with anti-Trump movements across the board. My bottom line is that these key people, their ideologies, their businesses were set loose to take great advantage with Obama in office. Today they face a bitter pill to swallow in Donald Trump the outsider. Trump is a far more powerful harbinger than even the tilted mainstream media suggests, let me illustrate.
EU policy is rife with far-left neo-liberal legislation and policy indictments as Obama prepares to leave office. With regard to APCO in Washington, and big PR’s coming nightmare if their feet are in “the swamp”, you should read this piece on European cyber-security to see if you recognize familiar rhetoric. Here’s an excerpt from APCO’s James Lovegrove, senior director, of Mrs. Kraus’ worldwide’s global technology practice lead based in Brussels:
“State sponsored cyber-weapons are now a very real threat to our various blends of Liberal Democracy – from espionage (e.g. Russian hacks into the Democratic Party computer system) to the digital age equivalent of a missile strike (e.g. Estonia DDoS and Stuxnet).”
This is straight Obama State Department and NATO jibe that blames the Kremlin without so much as one shred of proof the Russians were involved. Whether or not Mr. Putin’s people did in fact hack the crooked DNC, this is irrelevant actually, when we consider the depth of collusion shown us by WikiLeaks. What is relevant is whether or not APCO and others entities are stuck in this mess swamp or not. No media is covering it, but at this very moment the EU leadership is pondering legislation that not only vilifies Russia’s leadership in accusing them of cyber-warfare and propaganda attacks, but that alleges Russian Orthodoxy under Putin’s “regime” is mutually exclusive of other religions. The implications of this legislation are darkly foreboding of a past time when Europe divided along religious-political lines. I’ll not delve into this here, but the point is that the neo-socialist democratic powers seek ultimate control via legislators and PR moves.
At length the world is going to see a lot of synergy in between nations take place once Donald Trump takes office. We are already witnessing a huge shakeup with regard to the US-Russia reboot Trump has suggested, and where NATO becoming more self sufficient is concerned. These PR firms, the companies and billionaires linked to them, they are in “harm’s way” should a Trump White House initiative look into what really went on under Obama’s administration. Eight years of free reign, and the arrogant assurance of at least eight more is a real blessing for those who hope and pray for a more moderate-conservative world. Chancellor Angela Merkel and Barack Obama are surely not discussing their successes this week. Europe is a mess, the Middle East is in flames, and America is so far off course the people turned to the only loose cannon they could find. PR companies like APCO going to work for questionable governments like the one in Ukraine, NGOs like Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the CIA linked USAID showing up at every crisis point before the crisis occurs, these and more indicators betray today’s panic button response to Donald Trump.
Here’s the thing folks. President-elect Donald Trump putting Vice-President-elect Mike Pence in charge of the transition team was brilliant. Allowing the lobbyists in Washington to think New Jersey Governor Christie’s “down home” picks would stand was the biggest “fake out” in US political history. Even the idiotic left-wing media bought it. Now that Pence is emptying the “swamp things” Christie boondoggled, APCO and MWW, a host of lobbying PR people are in for a hard ride, and this includes Europe. On Europe it is significant to note how all this plays out. Some media in Germany is already planning to fight any Trump initiative to reset Russia relations. According to reports on Obama’s visit, these media will urge Germans and Americans to work together to shape the world “to our values and visions”. Furthermore, the rhetoric is pure PR and denies any notion of “A return to how the world was before globalization”. So Brussels, Berlin and Paris are intent that even if Donald Trump’s America seeks a form of isolationism or a Russia reconnect, “it is not going to happen”. Even so, the current American president saw fit to convey a message that was apparently from Donald Trump, that globalization does need a course correction. For me this means only one thing, the former president does not want to be left stuck to the bottom of Trump’s shoes when that swamp finally is drained.
Phil Butler, is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
