Trawling for post-Orlando publicity

“Never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

That was Barack Obama aide Rahm Emanuel’s most famous utterance, but now he’s mayor of Chicago. So it was natural for Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass to quote that line when complaining about Democratic rhetoric following the Orlando massacre: “They used the bodies of the dead as leverage for their politics and framed the national debate in terms of gun control rather than terrorism.”

But I’m not writing this to criticize Democrats: That’s too easy. I’d like to apply the Emanuel Doctrine to the action of some publicists and pastors who have sent me come-hither email notes this past week. Their version would be, “Never let a great tragedy go to waste. Use the bodies of the dead as leverage to get yourself quoted or interviewed.”

The typical message goes like this: “As we sorrow over the Orlando mass shooting tragedy, many ask why God didn’t stop it. To offer hope and encouragement, we hope you’ll want to interview Pastor Billy Knavely, author of the New York Times bestseller, Five Short Answers in Times of Trouble.

“Pastor Billy will talk about what to talk about with tragedy-impacted people of various lifestyles and genders. Your readers or viewers will take away a desire to endeavor to persevere. Please let me know if we can coordinate an interview.”

Please, don’t walk to semi-celebrity over dead bodies.