Thursday, January 27, 2005
Fleshing the Press
Posted by Bruce Barry on Thu, Jan 27, 2005 at 10:54 AM
In re the business of paying pundits to propagandize for the administration, in the category of best performance by someone who doesn't understand much about the role of a free press in a healthy democracy, the nominees are:
George W. Bush for "Mr. Armstrong Williams admitted he made a mistake. And we didn't know about this in the White House." (now that's taking responsibility!)
Maggie Gallagher for "Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it?" I don't know. You tell me." (She subsequently said she "would have [disclosed it] if I had remembered it" -- nice to be in a position to forget a $21,500 payment.)
Wade Horn, Assistant Secretary of HHS, for "I don't see any comparison between what has been alleged with Armstrong Williams and what we did with Maggie Gallagher. We didn't pay her to write columns. We didn't pay her to promote the president's healthy marriage initiative at all. What we wanted to do was use her expertise."
They're all winners! (cue music...)
George W. Bush for "Mr. Armstrong Williams admitted he made a mistake. And we didn't know about this in the White House." (now that's taking responsibility!)
Maggie Gallagher for "Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it?" I don't know. You tell me." (She subsequently said she "would have [disclosed it] if I had remembered it" -- nice to be in a position to forget a $21,500 payment.)
Wade Horn, Assistant Secretary of HHS, for "I don't see any comparison between what has been alleged with Armstrong Williams and what we did with Maggie Gallagher. We didn't pay her to write columns. We didn't pay her to promote the president's healthy marriage initiative at all. What we wanted to do was use her expertise."
They're all winners! (cue music...)
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