Here’s an example of a strategy that was so successful that its author may have wanted to pull it back.  It concerns our Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Roberts.  Here’s what happened.  On Thursday morning last week a professor in a first-year law class wanted to demonstrate to his students that sources could not always be trusted, even trustworthy sources.  So at the beginning of the class he told the class that Chief Justice John Roberts would be resigning, perhaps by the end of the day.  He asked the class to keep it confidential and tell no one.  But by the end of the class word had got out on Blackberrys, and it spread like wildfire.  At the end of the class the professor told the students he had made it up, but, as they say, word was out.  It was picked up by Radar Online, the National Enquirer site that got the John Edwards story right.  It spread to other news sites and made the rounds to all the major networks, although the rumor had been squashed before they went on the air.  It shows that a rumor, even one in a classroom in Georgetown, can get currency and Internet play within minutes, no matter how outlandish.  The professor’s lesson plan was to show the students how sources can be wrong, and it got out of hand on him.  He may have been a bit relieved, but he was also very successful at proving his point.  BTW, President Obama will be re-registering as a Republican later today, but keep it quiet, would you?

It might seem strange thinking of political assassination as a form of communications, but the Israelis delivered the ultimate message to Arab terrorism last week: You Can Run but You Can’t Hide.  Here’s the story if you missed it.   A trained team of 17 Mossad agents from the Israeli intelligence agency used fake passports to fly into Dubai.  They were after Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a known terrorist responsible for the killing of many innocent Jews.  The assassination team then put on an Oceans 11 kind of performance, very much aware that security cameras were recording their every move, as they moved about the hotel.  They broke into al-Mabhouh’s hotel room, waited for him to return, and killed him.  The entire team then took cabs to the airport and flew out.  Now why, you might ask yourself, would the Israelis want to be recorded on security cameras killing a terrorist.  Answer: to send a message, using the media.  Wherever you are, wherever you go, wherever you hide, we will find you and take you out.  Now every terrorist in the Mideast has cause to worry.  And in Israel, it’s been a great recruiting tool.  Israelis are rushing to join Mossad, and the disguises worn by agents are selling like hotcakes, with a wink and nod to the intelligence agency, which has refused to comment on the killing.