"Sheriff: Balloon Boy Incident a 'Hoax'" Duh Giving a bad name to county sheriffs Bad public relations

Everyone has been asking when I would comment on the Colorado balloon boy. Today's the day (another duh, obviously).

First, I was presenting on public relations at yesterday's Los Angeles Film, Stage and Showbiz Expo. The balloon boy is a classic example of the public relations version of the old saying, He who represents himself has a fool for a client. Duh, obviously.

Unfortunately, the Larimer County Sheriff probably has a "public information officer" making $60,000 or more per year. The question is, why is a public information officer allowing the sheriff to make himself look worse than Jackie Gleason's Sheriff T. Buford Justice in Smokey and the Bandit? Why are taxpayers paying for an evidently lame PIO? What was the selection process for putting whoever has this position in the job? There are in excess of 1,000 journalists in the Four Corners states looking for work. Yet the County of Larimer is paying outrageous fees for - and selected an evidently lame PIO. I don't know who the PIO is in this case, but evidently lame; or unlistened to, another term for lame. Would like to have a dollar for every job I've quit, turned down or client refused because they wouldn't listen to me. At times I would have liked to have told those public relations expert clients - who has the MBA, me or you?

From the moment Thursday we knew the balloon boy had been (locked?) in a box in the house, to the fact they are on a reality show (evidently not the winners of the grand prize), everyone BUT the sheriff has known it was hoax - duh.

Yet I waited until today to comment, because the sheriff proved what a public relations idiot he was by, yes, he actually did, call a press conference. Miley Cyrus didn't even call a press conference to announce her 2009 Wonder World tour! What sort of idiot is this PIO and sheriff to call a press conference - on a Sunday no less?