Republicans & Conservatives: Archives

I’m outraged in theory.

In practice, however, I’ve never heard of Armstrong Williams, so it’s hard to be insensed. And the right thing has been done: he got sacked. The White House should clean up its house. I doubt Bush (or any president) would be so gauche as to pay someone off directly like that. Of course, Nixon fell for things that were done by subordinates without his detailed knowledge. It’s up to Bush - as it was up to Nixon - to police his own people. Like any strong leader, he makes demands and keeps his staff working hard. Thus it’s up to him that they’re working hard through the legal and ethical channels and not trying to get cheap results by going around the law.

What can we do? write your congressman or senator and ask them to open an investigation of this. It’s probably illegal, not merely unethical.

Personally, on my outrage scale, this is not at the top of the list. I’m more outraged over the fact that “Slam Dunk” Tenet got a medal, or that Gonzales is interviewing for a job as AG while the grunts in Abu Ghraib are being courtmartialled.

AP -

Im glad to see this coming out of the red colum, it gives a bit of hope ;-)

Whats driving me crazy is the lack of traction this story has been getting. Like you, I can’t believe people are more upset that news personalites are being paid to feed us propaganda.

that should be ‘aren’t more upset’

Thats how upset I am…

Man - I really dont get this: The White House is using taxpayer dollars to fund covert propaganda, and people are like ‘eh, Ive seen worse’.

and yes, William, this is illegal.

Could it be that $240K is less than what the governments spends in every four seconds, based on a 2.3 trillion dollar budget.

The goverment spent more than that, many times more that that, in the time it took you to right your email.

Not enough money for any real traction. I imagine every senator or congressman spends more than that on bribes (or snacks) each year on the press corps.

Wise_Skeptic - *ahem*

Could it be that the money is not the issue? Rather it’s the underhanded way the government is presenting its policies?

I have outrage overload, I think. :^/
I’ve reached the point where I can’t even be shocked anymore. After going to war in Iraq for no reason because of lies and/or incompetence, and then Abu Graib, I expect the worst from this administration, with no end in sight.

Underhanded + Bush Administration?

Get outta here! Really! =)

What bothers me is the blatancy of it. It’s always been the case that reporters and editors in consensus with the administration get better access and favors.

I notice Novak hasn’t been threatened with jail, nor has anyone in the Whitehouse been indicted. Yet, a crime was committed.

Armstrong Williams has just been outed as an Uncle Tom. Rush is a dope fiend. I’m waiting for Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter to come out of the closet. The ones that croak the loaudest are usually the biggest frogs.

I sure am glad this administration doesn’t believe in propoganda.

Just another page out of ‘Brave New World’ or ‘1984’: how to books for authoritarian leaders regardless of what the government structure is.

What is incredible to most Americans is that authoritarian leadership can lead a democracy of only semi-interested and emotionally patriotic sappy followers. Most Americans DO NOT believe it could happen here, which is why it is happening, right under their noses.

The Administration’s standards of behavior are uniformly low. This is one example of many.

With Medicare, they intentionally lowballed the costs of the Prescription drug benefit. With Taxes, they gave one reason for cutting taxes when we had surplus, then gave a completely contradictory reason when revenues fell. Justifying the War in Iraq, the administration knowingly used information that was considered unreliable or false by the very people they’re now scapegoating.

It’s not even necessarily some penchant for dishonesty as much as a disregard for the difference. Maintaining their recieved truth matters more than telling or ascertaining the truth in common practice.

Y’all missed your chance to get out of this easy. Now, you’re going to suffer the consquences with everybody else.

AP -

Im glad to see this coming out of the red colum, it gives a bit of hope ;-)

Ditto that!

Are you kidding me? You really have to be, no one can be this unaware. You are slamming the White House for putting forth their message in the same way you have been paying people to do to you for years. What, you don’t believe me? You put down 10 bucks to what movies that inundate you with blatent and subliminal advertising. That can of Pepsi the A list Actor is just pushing pepsi’s message of the day. The dignified Actress whos voice pushes the latest pad with wings while you watch your favorite TV show. And you think that is OK but say this is wrong? Get real - advertising, propaganda is the accepted norm. About damn time the government put business practices into use, maybe someday we will run the government like its a company we want around for awhile and not like the money sink it has been.

You put down 10 bucks to what movies that inundate you with blatent and subliminal advertising. That can of Pepsi the A list Actor is just pushing pepsi’s message of the day. The dignified Actress whos voice pushes the latest pad with wings while you watch your favorite TV show. And you think that is OK but say this is wrong?

And Pepsi and Tampax are using taxpayer dollars to pay for their advertisements, now?

We use the taxpayer money all the time to advertise. You may remember seeing a Smokey the Bear commercial when you were younger and various public service commercials today. Every government agency has some kind of public affairs function. This is nothing new or surprising.

The ethical problem lies with the journalist taking the money. I also didn’t know who Armstrong Williams was, so I was not outraged. He joins a long list of journalists who have been caught shading their opinions or making things up for personal gain.

“We use the taxpayer money all the time to advertise. You may remember seeing a Smokey the Bear commercial when you were younger and various public service commercials today.”

The difference is, those PSA’s state that they are government funded. If Williams had gone on TV and said: ‘I’m being paid by the White House to say this…’ There wouldn’t have been a problem. I’m not even sure where to start with the fake news stories being sent out. And Lets keep in mind, this isn’t ‘the government’, this is the White House alone.

As for Alliums statement, I have no idea where to start.

They were paying Williams to present No Child Left Behind to a certain constituency. Part of the art of politics is the art of selling ideas. If you are promoting an idea, it should be presented in the most favorable manner possible.

The outrage on the left is contemptible.

The outrage on the left is contemptible.

Is the outrage on the right also contemptible? Just wondering.

As others have pointed out, there is nothing unethical about the White House promoting its policy initiatives. The problem is that they were doing it covertly through a paid mouthpiece disguised as a journalist.

Mark-
The only currency that should buy positive coverage for policies is success well explained. Otherwise, all that is being bought is our own deception. The only thing that is contemptable is the Bush administration’s contempt for American’s right to know the truth about their policies.

Watching Bush at his latest policy pep-rally, it occurred to me that the person we have in office right now is not a president, but a salesman for an agenda who pushes his product whether or not it’s what we need. I don’t recall the last time he pushed policy he could claim as originally his own.

There’s a difference between acting to fulfill an agenda, and acting to fulfill one’s duties as president. What is contemptible is that Bush can’t seem to tell the difference. Pushing canned policy from the far right seems to be all he’s good for, in this time when imaginative leadership is what was needed.

I think David hit it right on. The american public is only half interested, and administrations, no matter who is in charge will tend towards corruption as a result. This isn’t a right/left issue, hence the reason we should all be concerned.

To be fair, it is not assured that the DOE intended this to be secretive. But they sure didn’t enforce Williams prefacing his comments with the whole truth. I didn’t know who Armstrong Williams was either, but he’s not an isolated incident. The White House has a history of questionable advertisment in just the past year.

As for this:

Y’all missed your chance to get out of this easy. Now, you’re going to suffer the consquences with everybody else.

Yeah, voting democrat would certainly have been the ‘easy way’. I’m positive there’d be no scandals in government if we’d have voted for the other guy. Sorry, I meant fewer. And not as scandalous. [/sarcasm]

Taxpayer dollars have been used to fund propaganda from the left for quite a long time now. PBS is funded by taxpayers and is being used to shove liberal garbage down our throats. Ask yourselves how much has been sent to PBS to indoctrinate Americans from a left wing point of view. Then ask yourselves how much the White House paid this Armstrong Williams guy.

AP,

Add me to the list of startled WB readers to find such honesty and accountability in the Red Column. (Although, I recommend you might wanna invest in a remote car starter!)

My partisan, cynic personality still believes this faux outrage from the Right, is rooted in knowing this story is fading fast, even as we speak. Why? Who supposedly vetted Bernard Kerik? Alberto Gonzales gets a rap on the knuckles during his confirmation, the rest of the knives are in Kerik’s back.

The David Corn link was very revealing, especially for the insight provided by Linda Chavez. I’m still not ready to declare this a done deal, because there are still too many variables ‘un-vetted’, if you will. Like, anyone heard from Rod Paige? He’s probably none to happy being scapegoated yet again, by the Bush White House. If there are other ‘contracts’ with prominent Conservative signatures, has anyone secured the GAO?

And, could the administration have handed the Dems any better New Year’s gift?

Ryan -

PBS is hardly liberal propaganda and if it is, why haven’t republicans cut funding for it? I personally find the News Hour to be an excellent source of balanced political analysis, way beyond that of any of the corporate news sources. Your claims are outrageous beyond belief.

Bert -

That’s definitely a cynical viewpoint if you’re going to assert that this is faux outrage for show. Is it unbelievable to desire accountability within your own party? That’s not a good place to be, and I’d wager it has a lot to do with why we see some of the things we’re seeing. Both sides need to call for accountability here, its the only way it won’t be dismissed as a partisan witch-hunt.

AParker-
I never said you had to vote Democrat. That, indeed would hardly be the easy way. You could, though, vote for Republican candidates only when you feel they’re worth electing, or based on their degree of success. Which would mean staying home on election day. If they are assured of your vote regardless of what they do, then you have no power to punish them.

AParker-
PBS doesn’t dish out liberal propaganda daily? I am sorry sir, but it appears that you are living in a fantasy land. Have you ever heard of Bill Moyers? Thankfully he is no longer at PBS, but he is just one example of many as to why PBS should no longer be operating with taxpayer dollars. Why the Republicans have not shut it down is a mystery to me. Why the Republicans are allowing the borders with Mexico to remain open during the war on terror is a mystery to me too. Who knows what motivates the politicians to behave in the manner they do. If you don’t believe PBS is slanted left, then I don’t know what to say for you.

AP wrote:

Bert, That’s definitely a cynical viewpoint if you’re going to assert that this is faux outrage for show. Is it unbelievable to desire accountability within your own party?

Republicans control all the investigative committees in Congress, right now.

I’ll wait.

Ryan-
Yeah, I know about Moyers. But at the same time, You’ve got Gigot, Brooks, Buckley, Wall Street crews of all kinds, and much, much more broadcasting from there. We may have some big liberals on their, but we also have our fair share of conservatives.

Your absolutley right Ryan. I’ve even had to block PBS from my children.

Why the Republicans have not shut [PBS] down is a mystery to me. Why the Republicans are allowing the borders with Mexico to remain open during the war on terror is a mystery to me too.

You should be in charge of the GOP. I would love to see the Republicans start a war with the Hispanics and Barney.

We (americans) need to take action and throw his ass out of office. We need to take our country back. this is getting out of hand.