Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on
The New York Times recently attempted to contact former secretary of state Henry Kissinger to ask about allegations that he had used his influence inside the Council on Foreign Relations to quell a debate concerning him in the pages of its magazine, Foreign Affairs. Kissinger was "traveling and could not be reached for comment," responded his assistant. Jack Shafer points out that this dodge doesn't carry much weight anymore in these days of cell phones, but lots of public figures still seem to have travel plans that mysteriously synchronize with bad news that they don't want to discuss. Examples include movie industry lobbyist Jack Valenti, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Monica Lewinsky, Afghan warlord Rashid Dostum, former U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey, investor Warren Buffett, and Disney honcho Michael Eisner.
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