Democratic leaders in Congress today called on President Bush to stop
the alarming use of illegal covert propaganda to promote government
policy after two new accounts of such activity surfaced today. In a
letter to the President, they pointed out that the use of covert
propaganda has been revealed through independent investigations by at
least three separate federal agencies. "We are concerned that these
three incidents, while serious and disturbing on their own, may not be
isolated incidents," the lawmakers wrote to the President. "It would be
abhorrent to our system of government if these incidents were part of a
deliberate pattern of behavior by your Administration to deceive the
public and the media in an effort to further your policy objectives."
They called on the President to "publicly renounce the use of covert
propaganda to influence public opinion. And we urge you to direct your
department and agency heads to immediately disclose all past and
on-going efforts to engage in covert propaganda, whether through
contracts with commentators, the distribution of video news releases,
or other means." The lawmakers pointed out that "covert propaganda to
influence public opinion is unethical and dangerous. It violates
fundamental principles of open government. And it is illegal." [more] and [more]
F.C.C. to Investigate Commentator Paid to Promote Bush Policy [more]
White House dodging questions on Armstrong Williams scandal [more]
Armstrong Williams: The Biggest Whore of All [more]
AN INSTANT ADVOCATE
Williams has called himself a "longtime supporter of No Child Left
Behind," but he wrote nothing about the bill in his weekly syndicated
column until his contract kicked in late in 2003. He proceeded to write
five columns singing the praises of Bush's education policies in the
first six months of 2004. In addition, he shilled for NCLB on CNN
(10/19/04) and CNBC's the Capital Report (8/9/04). According to
Bloomberg's Al Hunt, Williams did some heavy lifting for the bill
behind the scenes as well: "Armstrong did deliver his promise," Hunt
said, "because I occasionally worked out at a gym and Armstrong's
there, and he told me several times, you know, 'Why don't you write
about No Child Left Behind.'"
