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Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, According to Federal Auditors

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section Media
Posted on Fri Sep 30, 2005 at 08:06:23 PM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

The NY Times reports tonight for Saturday's paper that the Bush Administration's Buying of News by Bush's Aides Is Ruled Illegal by "making payments to the conservative commentator Armstrong Williams and by hiring a public relations company to analyze media perceptions of the Republican Party" according to federal auditors.

In a blistering report, the investigators, from the Government Accountability Office, said the administration had disseminated "covert propaganda" in the United States, in violation of a statutory ban.

The contract with Mr. Williams and the general contours of the public relations campaign had been known for months. The report Friday provided the first definitive ruling on the legality of the activities.

Of course it was illegal. We've known that since they were caught red handed doing it. The only question is why it took so long for federal auditors to issue this report.

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    Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, According to Federal Auditors | 13 comments (13 topical)
    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#1)
    by ras on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    So ... Eason Jordan and CNN must, like, *really* be in trouble for the consideration they got from Saddam in exchange for favorable reporting, right? Good.

    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#2)
    by Sailor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    Apparently some commenters here confuse OUR gov't with saddam's. Hey, these days, an easy enough mistake to make: torture rooms. no justice system, (see holding indefinitely w/o charges.) detentions of political prisoners. state sponsored media and propaganda. crooked elections. etc, etc, etc. ... and don't get me started on what's happening in iraq!

    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#3)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    Judith Miller has been working public relations for the neocons for years, and everyone at the NYT knows it. This quote is a killer:
    Congress tried to clarify the ban on "covert propaganda" in a bill signed by Mr. Bush in May. The law says that no federal money may be used to produce or distribute a news story unless the government's role is openly acknowledged.
    Wonder what the "currency" was/is for Miller and whether any federal money was used in the production of her war propaganda. More PR money must have been spent on the neocon plan to conquer Iraq, than any Hollywood blockbuster film production ever made.

    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#4)
    by scarshapedstar on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    Shorter ras: "Hey! Look over there!"

    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#5)
    by MikeDitto on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    However, the GAO found that the Maggie Gallagher incident did not rise to the level of covert propaganda, as I noted here.
    So score one for the good guys, and a partial one for the bad guys. Both instances were clearly unseemly, but only one of them was blatantly illegal.
    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#6)
    by john horse on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    Sailor Right on target and funny to boot. I still don't know why they have to buy favorable press, when they get it for free from Fox anyway.

    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#7)
    by roger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    So, when's the impeachment?

    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#8)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    Sailor: "I still don't know why they have to buy favorable press, when they get it for free from Fox anyway."
    “See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.” — George (lost my wagon!) Bush, May 24, 2005


    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#9)
    by john horse on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    edger If you substitute "lie" for "truth" I think you have a more accurate description. The Bush quote reminded me of the use of the "Big Lie" employed by Goebbels and Hitler. By the way, in researching this I found this pyschological profile of Hitler that was done by the OSS.
    His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
    I'm not saying that Bush is Hitler but the resemblance is truly uncanny.

    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#10)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:33 PM EST
    jh-the neocons believe that they are not doomed to repeat history's failures since they have learned much from close study of Hitler's mistakes, ergo the "uncanny resemblance". We now have an improved infallible version of Hitler sitting in the WH, retooled and built on a corporate model.

    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#11)
    by Edger on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:34 PM EST
    John Horse: I'm not saying that Bush is Hitler but the resemblance is truly uncanny. It really is very uncanny, John. And there have been quite a few people draw parallels not only between Bush and Hitler, but between the Nazi party in Germany and the Bush Administration. Easy to find with Google, and most of them are flakes. But this one isn't:
    Senator Robert Byrd is one of the few in either house of Congress to truly understand the Constitution and to advocate for the Bill of Rights. He points out that like Hitler, Bush is pursuing a strategy designed to win absolute rule by one party and one leader. Hitler's central slogan "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" -- one people, one government, one dictator -- accurately describes the current GOP strategy of Karl Rove, Bush's Joseph Goebbels... LINK


    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#12)
    by squeaky on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:34 PM EST
    edger-I couldn't agree more with Byrd. Great link.

    Re: Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, Acco (none / 0) (#13)
    by Johnny on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:04:34 PM EST
    Ugh. So has anyone been charged yet? Manipulating the media must surely be a more serious offense than a hummer? Can we expect impeachment proceedings? Or does that mean the terrorists win?

    Bush's Covert Purchase of "News" Illegal, According to Federal Auditors | 13 comments (13 topical)