It wouldn't be the first time for her to be completely wrong about something.
Posted on 01/08/2005 11:07:44 AM PST by JustAnotherSavage
It stinks. From USA Today:
Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical, but "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in..."
Jonah Goldberg weighed in early here.
I'll add this: Rod Paige should be fired. Those who came up with this disgusting scheme should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Any other pundits who accepted money from the Bush administration, whether from the Education Department or any other bureaucracy, should come forward now and disclose. And then they should immediately return the money.
Grow some principles, for God's sake.
Update: Armstrong Williams revealed on The O'Reilly Factor tonight that Tribune Media Services has dropped his syndicated column.
Now, it's time for someone in the Bush administration to suffer consequences.
Update II: Joe Gandelman has the best round-up and analysis on this issue. And Captain Ed cuts to the chase:
I find it very difficult to believe that an experienced journalist or commentator, one who has to make his living off of his independence, could honestly see his way clear to accepting what amounts to a quarter-million-dollar bribe to support a government policy. I don't care what administration we're talking about -- that plain stinks, and any reasonable person knows it. Williams' wishy-washy statements about how he can understand "why some people think it's unethical" and that "it's fair" for people to think he sold out are forms of denial.
Williams, in short, is a journalistic whore. He's finished as a commentator. He claims that he will self-syndicate -- but who will buy his commentary now?
Like any instance of prostitution, of course, the action involves more than one wrongdoer. If Williams is a whore, the Education Department is his john. Who got the bright idea to spend a quarter of a million dollars of taxpayer money to bribe one journalist?
Good question. Cough up some names, Mr. Paige. We're waiting.
Update III: Still more bloggers react:
LaShawn Barber, "Armstrong Williams: The Wrong Side" The Moderate Voice: "White House Paid A Commentator To Argue Its Case" Matthew Yglesias: "WHAT'S A LITTLE BRIBERY BETWEEN FRIENDS?"
This smells, and as Conservatives, who are better than "that other side", we should demand they clean this up.
Michelle ping.
Verses what the tax subsidised MSM whores accept from the DNC? Thats the real unreported scandel! Paging Bill Moyer!
I agree. They should fire him and retire the position with him.
Those who came up with this disgusting scheme should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
I'm not really clear what actual laws were violated. It was sleazy and unprofessional, all around, but I don't know about prosecutions.
For now I just will not believe that the current Administration would have stopped so low to do such a thing.
Malkin is one to be talking about getting paid. I like her but she's wrong.
Yes, it does stink but the irony is that Armstrong
Williams really did believe in No Child Left Behind.
There's nothing better than being BRIBED TO VOTE YOUR
CONVICTIONS.
Yes, you're right that is an unreported scandal. Do you consider DNC funds the same as tax money from the Dept. of Education?
I do not think what Armstrong did is right, of course, but why single out him and the Department of Education rather than look at all the other propaganda?
ping
Please read other info before believing things.
Armstrong Williams was hired by a PR firm hired by the Education Department.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1316757/posts
Because as conservatives we don't engage in moral relativism, we still have some standards and ethics, and we call our own out on the carpet when they violate those ethics.
So?
If this is true in is Clintonesqe nonetheless.
Bump.
And if we were Clintonesque we'd be rationalizing away this transgression.
How often do PR firms buy journalists? Even that is a scandal in my opinion. I want it exposed and I want the left investigated in this regard too.
I thought Rod Paige was being replaced in the new administration?
An interesting point. The lib media will be howling for blood - but how many of them are dirty in getting money from PR firms, lobbyists or political campaigns? This actually could get quite interesting. And if we take the high ground with Williams and the Education Department in demanding they come clean and fire anyone involved, then we have moral standing to go after lib pundits.
One guy in paticular (Steve Gilliard, but I won't link to his steaming, fetid pile of tripe over on Blogspot) is attacking Jonah Goldberg as a racist now because Goldberg had the audacity to say that Williams was wrong to take the money. Of course, Jonah would also be racist if he supported Williams, because Williams supported an idea the lefties don't like. Can't win with these idiots.
I do have to say, though, that the comments under the post to the Gilliard blog are pretty funny. As with most lefties, they assume that if they keep throwing money at Gilliard's blog, he'll win the argument. Why, he's up to almost $3000 whole dollars now! Funny stuff, really.
The Bush administration?
That's a pretty broad brush.
Just who in the Bush administration?
Yeah ... okay ... we're waiting ...
Yes, we are waiting.
The leftwing nuts are angry that Bush was elected not selected.
The Bush administration is as much responsible for this as for NCLB. Either they take credit for what that department does or not. Since they are clearly following Bush Admin polcies...it should follow that they could try to follow Bush Admin ethics. To say that the Education Department is part of the Bush administration is not some slam on Bush or attempt to say he was directly responsible for this. It is his admin, and his ed department, he needs to make sure his department heads don't do this crap.
The left wing nuts have been given some ammo on this one and that is a shame.
Right on!...I like the way u think!
Michelle Malkin gets her paycheck from who? Why not full disclosure on this from you JustAnotherSavage?
Her website says the following;
Who are these 200 papers? Are they owned by some of the global statist media companies that we know and hate? We need full disclosure.
Okay then ... Who in the Education Department? Who authorized it???
Is that better?
I think some people are overreacting now. Conservatives don't stick together at all.
I am sure if the current administration has done this that the Clinton Regime must have done the same thing a hundred times.
We just have to find the transgression and neutralize the impact of this current story.
I see nothing wrong with this.
The serious charge is that AW was contractually required to comment on the NCLB during his show without full disclosure.
Malkin doesn't clearly demonstrate this in her above statements. Who exactly is she quoting?? What's the source?? why does she mention "campaign" requirements and not contract requirements?
I want full freepin' disclosure on this. Why does she not provide it?
That would have gotten him a show on MSNBC and a permanent gig as a PBS talking head.
Taking the money WITHOUT FULL DISCLOSURE is a fatal mistake. Good grief, what could he have been thinking?
All he needed to do was write a column early on (at the very beginning) stating that he's SO excited about NCLB that his PR firm is even contracting with the Education Department to help promote it in the black community. If a firestorm resulted then, the trial balloon was up and he could have backed out with no harm to himself or any other black conservative.
Instead, he wisely touted a good program, but did so while stupidly accepting secret money to do so. Ugh.
Even the greatest minds have ethical blindspots and make mistakes, but it is hard to imagine an ethical lapse more sublimely destructive to the reputation of a movement than this is.
It's so forehead-slappingly frustrating, I could just spit.
You see noting Wrong with Tax Payer Money being used to promote a program devised by Teddy Kennedy?
Thanks. I wonder how many liberal pundits going after Williams have their own little payola accounts. After all, it is so expensive to live decently in NY and Washington, and they are doing the public so much good, and the market just doesn't pay them enough for the good that they do, and the liberal agenda that they promote does so much good for this country, well, dadgumit, they deserve to be paid more than what arrives in their paycheck...
We are not beating him up for talking about No Child Left Behind. We are beating him up for taking $240,000 for doing such. And we are wondering who the hell in the Education Department either allowed a PR firm to engage in this idiocy, or who wasn't paying close enough attention to the marketing plan for that PR firm.
Quit trying to pretend the message is the issue here. It might be for liberal critics - but it isn't for Freeper critics.
Gee.
But when the Clinton administration used the ENTIRE national news media to CREATE the Kosovo War to deflect attention after his impeachment ...
None of these liberal observers said a peep.
I'll dig up "full disclosure" for every author of every article I post if you will.
Ask her. She'll likely answer your email.
www.michellemalkin.com
"But when the Clinton administration used the ENTIRE national news media to CREATE the Kosovo War to deflect attention after his impeachment ...
None of these liberal observers said a peep."
You're right, and I hope we as conservatives are above the games they play.
Can't fire Paige, he resigned and has already been replaced. Back in November yet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Spellings
"Following Rod Paige's departure as Secretary of Education, Spellings was nominated to the post of the Secretary of Education by George W. Bush on November 17, 2004. She faces confirmation hearings before the United States Senate."
Hearings which she breezed thru on Thursday:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/national/07confirm.html
I didn't complain about AW's so-called lack of full disclosure, you did.
Understand?
I believe Armstrong aswered when asked.
It wouldn't be the first time for her to be completely wrong about something.
I don't recall mentioning anything about "disclosure" anywhere except in reply to you. If I'm wrong, point it out.
Understand?
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