Republican Rule #1: Lynch The Black Folks First!

Anyone who thinks BushCo appoints minorities because of their sincere dedication to diversity, 86ed the Fairness Doctrine because it was "antiquated," and believes that The US Dept. of Education paid a (cough) journalist to spread propaganda outside the direction of BushCo's White House Communication Director is just plain pig ignorant!

SCAPEGOAT- n.

1. One that is made to bear the blame of others.
2. Bible. A live goat over whose head Aaron confessed all the sins of the children of Israel on the Day of Atonement. The goat, symbolically bearing their sins, was then sent into the wilderness. (See also: Armstrong Williams; Rod Paige; Colin Powell; Condoleezza Rice)




Rod Paige, recently departed black rightwing BushCo Cabinet Secretary (US Department of Education), paid Armstrong Williams, black rightwing columnist, $240,000 to spread BushCo propaganda about the No Child Left Behind Act (which, by the way, leaves millions of children behind... and is now short $240,000, which could have been spent on not leaving children behind).

For Immediate Release

DATE: Thursday, January 06, 2005

CONTACT: Phil Singer 202 224-2939

Lawmakers Demand President Bush STOP Paying
Journalists to Promote Administration Policies

Reid, Lautenberg, Kennedy Also Ask President If His
Administration Has Paid Other Journalists to Promote
other Policies, including Social Security Privatization

WASHINGTON, DC – In light of alarming news that the Bush administration paid a popular conservative radio commentator and columnist almost a quarter of a million dollars to skew his reporting to promote the No Child Left Behind Act, United States Senators Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Harry Reid (D-NV) sent a letter to President Bush today demanding that he recover the money paid to Armstrong Williams, citing federal laws that prohibit such activity. In addition, the lawmakers also asked President Bush to disclose any payments to other journalists to push Administration policies, including President Bush’s decision to privatize Social Security.

In news reports today, it was revealed conservative pundit and commentator Armstrong Williams was paid $240,000 to promote President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act on his syndicated radio program and in addition, to urge other pundits to routinely hype the law during their own appearances on other programs.

In their letter to President Bush, the Lawmakers cite federal laws that prohibit taxpayer funds from being spent by the Executive Branch for “Covert Propaganda."

“In addition to the illegality of these actions taken by your Administration, we believe that the act of bribing journalists to bias their news in favor of government policies undermines the integrity of our democracy. Actions like this were common in the Soviet Union, but until now, thought to be long extinguished in our country,” wrote the lawmakers in their letter to President Bush sent today.

These revelations regarding Mr. Williams are the latest – and most disturbing – in a series of actions by your Administration to manipulate public opinion through covert propaganda. On May 19, 2004, the GAO found that your Administration illegally spent taxpayer funds on covert propaganda by paying Ketchum Incorporated to produce fake news stories promoting the image of the new Medicare law.

Remember Karen Ryan, the fake newscaster?

Yep, that's Ketchum Incorporated!


So...

One would expect both Williams and the White House to take the hit, right?

Wrong.

Armstrong Williams Column Axed by TMS

By Dave Astor

Published: January 07, 2005 8:45 PM ET
NEW YORK Tribune Media Services (TMS) tonight terminated its contract with columnist Armstrong Williams, effective immediately. But Williams told E&P that he plans to continue his feature via self-syndication.

TMS' action came after USA Today reported this morning that Williams had accepted $240,000 from the Bush administration to promote the No Child Left Behind education-reform law on his TV and radio shows. E&P subsequently reported that Williams had also written about NCLB in his newspaper column at least four times last year.

In a statement, TMS said: "[A]ccepting compensation in any form from an entity that serves as a subject of his weekly newspaper columns creates, at the very least, the appearance of a conflict of interest. Under these circumstances, readers may well ask themselves if the views expressed in his columns are his own, or whether they have been purchased by a third party." (Full text of the statement is available at the end of this story.)

John Twohey, vice president of editorial and operations at TMS, told E&P tonight that terminating the contract "wasn't a close call" after he and four other senior TMS executives discussed the matter.

"I understand the decision," Williams said when reached by E&P. He also said he would not be returning the $240,000.

Williams said the $240,000 in payments were made to promote NCLB as part of an advertising campaign on his syndicated "The Right Side" TV show and that this ad campaign was disclosed to the show's viewers. But he acknowledged that the payments weren't disclosed to other audiences, including readers of his newspaper column. Williams also acknowledged that he mentioned NCLB in some of his 2004 columns, but he said he didn't make NCLB a "centerpiece" in them.

Ahem.

Excuse me.

Actually, Armstrong...

You wrote 4 columns devoted to NCLB after signing your pact with BushCo.

The columnist plans to start trying to self-syndicate his feature this Monday. How many of his nearly 50 newspaper clients does he think will keep the feature? "That remains to be seen," Williams replied. "But I always feel I can sell my product better than anyone else."

He added: "I'm wounded now, but, guess what, wounds heel." LINK

As of this post, BushCo has referred all questions to the Dept. of Education.

Scapegoat- BushCo's best friend!

Heavy, heavy sigh.