Detroit doesn't need PR

As I read and listen and see the news coming out of Detroit, I'm reminded of what one of my mentors once said. With a twinkle in his eye, he said, "Dick, public relations can't perfume a pig."

Detroit currently has lots of people trying to cast the situation in ways favorable to them. Lawyers talking to video cameras, being interviewed on radio and in the newspapers are all trying to make the viewer, listener or reader believe that their client or clients are in the right, while the "other side" is in the wrong.

My thoughts range from the sadness of the entire mess to the tragedy of what is happening to a city that was once great, but has now become comedy fodder for late-night TV talk show hosts.

I realize that, given time and the necesary legal proceedings, the leadership will change. And I'm grateful that the law is being pursued.

Meanwhile, I can only sit on the sidelines and realize that any public relations moves currently underway are, like the mentor said, "perfuming the pig."