Michael S. Malone: The PR Summit

"The White House Jobs Summit is underway. And in case you have any hope for it actually helping produce real jobs, keep in mind two things.

"First, it is billed as a 'listening' event by the Administration – and everybody knows what that word really means: We’ll pretend to listen in order to shut everybody up, then we’ll do exactly what we planned all along.

"Second, the invite list is mostly representatives from academia and think tanks, Big Labor and Big Business . . . in other words, three groups of people who know almost nothing about how to actually create, rather than merely preserve, jobs.

"In other words, if you’re on line at the employment office right now, and you’re hoping that the Jobs Summit is actually going to help you get, you know, a job, you’d better keep filling out that form in front of you.

"In watching President Obama the last few months, it’s become increasingly apparent that there are certain things he is very much interested in. Nationalized health care. Protecting and expanding organized labor. Instituting a national energy scheme. Repositioning America’s role in the world as a partner rather than a leader. Meanwhile, there are two nettlesome problems that continue to demand his attention, but he seems annoyed at having to deal with: Afghanistan and Unemployment. And like most of us, he has reacted to both by dithering, postponing decisions and acting busy on other, equally pressing matters."