She ain't a master bamboozler.

Bamboozle. A wonderful word. That describes a craft. Often made into an art form. By politicians. By public relations firms. By scalawags. When I was working as a newspaper reporter. All sorts of people tried to bamboozle me. They still do. In all walks of life. The big bamboozle. Here’s what my dictionary has to say.  To conceal one’s true motives. Especially by elaborately feigning good intentions. Hoodwink. Yes, that’s it. Every day. We’re being hoodwinked. Bamboozled. I know when I’m being bamboozled. Ninety-nine percent of the time, at least. On a rare occasion, a truly artful bamboozler even tricks me.  Right now. I’m being bamboozled.  And I know it. By Kristin Puckett. Manager of public relations and crisis communications. For Brookdale Senior Living Solutions. Operators of a string of nursing homes. Including one called Clare Bridge. In a Twin Cities suburb. Clare Bridge has screwed up. By over-medicating some of its dementia-riddled residents. Including my friend Ron.   And rather than openly admitting to the mistake. Puckett practices bamboozling. She’s made it a craft. But she’s not good enough. To have elevated bamboozling to an art form. It’s still all too obvious. That she’s an inept bamboozler. The real good ones – the master bamboozlers -- go undetected. They even fool me. –Jim Broede