Mark Penn (top Hillary advisor) firm now retained by the "Date Rape Candy"!?!

[Bluebear]

ISN'T IT TIME FOR MARK PENN TO LEAVE BURSON-MARSTELLER?

My colleague Ari Berman has done more than any journalist to shine some light on how pollster-strategist Mark Penn, head honcho at PR giant Burson-Marsteller, and perhaps the most important figure in Hillary Clinton's campaign, poses a real dilemma for the candidate. Penn heads a firm that has represented everyone from union busters to big tobacco, and more recently Blackwater. (According to a Marsteller spokesperson, it was a subsidiary, BKSH & Associates, run by GOP operative Charlie Black, which helped Erik Prince prepare for congressional hearings after his employees killed civilians in Iraq).

It would seem difficult to find a more controversial client than Blackwater but Penn's firm has just been retained by Spin Master.

It turns out that Spin Master distributes Aqua Dots, a toy that was recalled last week because it contains a glue ingredient that when ingested is broken down by the body to make GHB, the "date rape" drug, which can cause unconsciousness and even death. (The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the number of children sickened by Aqua Dots has risen from two to nine in the past week.) Penn has repeatedly stated that he has no direct contact with controversial clients like Blackwater or unionbusters. But what about the good old-fashioned American principles of responsibility and accountability--principles which his candidate likes to invoke on the campaign trail?

As Ari Berman has pointed out, the dilemma for Clinton is that Penn's firm represents many of the interests whose influence she has vowed to curtail. But as kids get sick from poisonous toys, how can Clinton keep in her corner, as her chief strategist, a man who has even limited involvement with a firm like Burson-Marsteller. Isn't it time that Clinton ask Penn to choose: my campaign to make this a safer country or a PR firm which has too many clients undermining that agenda?

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?bid=45&pid=250988

[asdjrocky]

1. He is so poluted...

Please see..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3714514

and thanks for pointing out this corporate fat cat. I've been trying.

[Bluebear]

3. He is absolutely DISGRACEFUL. nt

[Tejanocrat]

2. Mark Penn has some SERIOUSLY bad karma.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. This reminds me of a story

Abraham Lincoln was approached by a wealthy man who wanted Lincoln to represent him in a civil matter. Although the fee would have been a large one, Lincoln turned it down after examining the case. "Every time I spoke to the jury," he told the man, "I'd be thinking 'Lincoln, you're a liar', and I'd be afraid it would slip out."

We must have integrity in office once again. This means not taking on anyone who is connected with firms doing things that don't go along with our ideals.

[Bluebear]

6. Indeed. nt

[Forkboy]

5. I hope they keep him..he's one of the few things that have stuck when I talk about it.

He goes over like a fire at an orphanage.

[MADem]

7. Burson-Marsteller is one of the largest PR firms in the world

They have an amazingly diverse client base and a HUGE infrastructure that spans the globe. More info on them here: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Burson-Marsteller

Clients
B-M does not publicly provide a list of its past or current clients. However, a selection of its client list, laregly based on O'Dwyers PR Daily database and other public sources (referenced separately), includes:

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, a firm owned by the Abu Dhabi government; PR Week reported in August 2007 that "the contract runs through January 31, 2008, and is worth an estimated $802,250, including fees and expenses" <21>
Action Performance Cos.
Allergan: Botox
American Public Health Assn.
Blackwater USA via Crowell & Moring
CDW Government Inc.
Cephalon Inc.
Chicago Office of the Mayor
Citizens Flag Alliance
Colombia <22>
Coach Inc.
Dubai 2003
Entergy Corp.: Indian Point nuclear power plant
Foundation for Clean Air Progress
Housing & Construction CA
HP
IGN Entertainment Inc.
Indonesian Government
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity <23>
Iraqi National Congress
JAMDAT Mobile Inc.
Miller Brewing Co.
Lincoln Park <24>
Novell <25>
Optimus Inc.
Orbitz
Philippines, The
Presidential Climate Action Project <26>
Public Utility Commission of Texas
Qualcomm
R.R. Donnelley Financial
SAP AG
Sony Electronics
SRI <27>
State Farm
Stellar Internet Monitoring
T.D. Jakes, Bishop
Texas Assn. of Business
think3 <28>
UNITA (anticommunist group led by Savimbi)(Source: Julie Gozan, MultinatinalMonitor, April 1993.
U.S. Treasury Dept.
Union Banka (UB)
Wine.com <29>
YukosSibneft Oil Company

[asdjrocky]

8. It's all true, and it gets worse.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3714514

take a look and give it a kick.

[sniffa]

9. remind me why people actually support her?

:puke:

off to the greatest page you go.

[Bluebear]

10. Welcome back, bubbalah.

:hug:

[sniffa]

12. thank you

:hug:

[asdjrocky]

11. Honestly,

I think it's because they don't have a firm grasp of the damage done to the workers in the 90's.

[sniffa]

13. i think they're just star struck.

yet it still baffles me.

[rinsd]

14. Last I checked my support was for Hillary Clinton, not Mark Penn.

[asdjrocky]

15. Don't believe I mentioned you by name rinsd,

a little sensitive about this subject perhaps?

[rinsd]

16. I wasn't replying to you.

Please learn to follow the threads and which comment is to whom.

[asdjrocky]

19. I'm so sorry.

Remember what a newbie I am. I'll try to do better in the future.

Kick

[fujiyama]

17. However

Penn does play a major part in Hillary's campaign and holds influence over her.

[rinsd]

20. My preference would be that he take a leave of absence or something similar.

I thought we would have seen it earlier.

[jgraz]

23. And Clinton's support is clearly for Mark Penn

And Mark Penn's support is clearly for folks like Philip Morris, Entergy Nuclear, Babcock and Wilcox , Union Carbide, The Government of Saudi Arabia, Nicolai Ceausescu, Suharto, and Blackwater.

That may not bother you, but that's why you're a Hillary supporter and I'm not.

[Catchawave]

24. Moral judgement isn't a concern for you......?

Do you know what the GOP will do with this fact in the General ?

Wow.

[rinsd]

27. What are they gonna say?

Have you seen the roster of some of the GOP's campaign teams?

Penn, as slimy as he is, looks like a choir boy next to that crew.

[Heywood J]

29. Right up there with

"If Bush does it, but Hillary does it a little less, then it's not so bad!"

[Nutmegger]

18. Sickening, just sickening.

:puke:

Another R&K.

[asdjrocky]

21. Very good at playing both sides of the fence.

[jgraz]

22. Check out Rachel Maddow's comments on Mark Penn

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/jgraz/60

[rucky]

25. It's not candy, it's an art activity.

and I gave a set to my daughter two weeks ago for her birthday.

Should I take them back, or should I take them?

[Bluebear]

26. You're absolutely right. I mistyped, as kids are eating them...

...and the chemical used to make the toy turns into the "date rape drug" when ingested.

[Carrieyazel]

28. Penn's claim that Hillary could win 24% of Repuke females is just ridiculous..

Penn makes Dick Morris look great. This clown has serious liabilites. He only tells Hillary what she wants to hear. At least Morris wasn't afraid to tell the Big Dog anything.