WSJ Editor Served with Armstrong Williams on White House Board

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

The chief editorial writer at the Wall Street Journal, the paper which disparaged two progressive blogs over accepting money from Howard Dean’s campaign, serves on President Bush’s fellowship board with Armstrong Williams, RAW STORY has learned. He is also being hired as chief speechwriter for the Bush Administration.

William McGurn, chief editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal serves with fallen columnist Armstrong Williams on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.

Williams was surreptitiously paid $240,000 by the Bush Education Department to promote the president’s ‘No Child Left Behind’ law, and was subsequently dismissed by the distributor of his column.

As a member of the Journal’s editorial board, McGurn has boasted of having “solicited and edited op-eds for the Wall Street Journal on three continents.” Williams was an occasional guest columnist with the Journal, though the paper did not syndicate his regular column.

http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=555

[Buddyblazon]

1. Ooooooooo....

this is beginning to get interesting.

I saw Rather was worth about a hundred of them.

So...1 down...working on number 2...only 98 to go.

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

2. There are more

I am certain we are going to find more Armstrong Williams's out there.

[Cell Whitman]

40. thanks, I laughed and laughed. n/t

.

[xxqqqzme]

3. but isn't disparaging progressive blogs

when UR doing the EXACT same thing - ahhhh, I don't know....hypocritical!!!!!

Typical RW rethug finger pointing exercise.

[warrens]

9. Both bloggers repeatedly disclosed that they had accepted money

As consultants. Not as propagandists.

[Just Me]

10. The WSJ mischaracterized propaganda as political ads.

Covert government propaganda is ILLEGAL.

Paid political advertising is legal so long as the rules are followed (otherwise NO candidate could run any ads).

WSJ was simply distracting from the underlying issue of pervasive and corrupt government propaganda which, in my view, qualifies as "high crimes and misdemeanors" because the government is engaged in a pattern of deceiving the American people leading them to give give up rights/benefits/liberties they would not otherwise sacrifice.

[Eric J in MN]

35. Kos was criticized for doing technical work for the

Howard Dean campaign, not for running ads.

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. Has anybody sent this to the WSJ?

[KittyWampus]

7. Corruption So Monumental At Times It's Comical. 200 Years From Now

there will be plays written about the hubris and folly.

Edited to include the bloodshed.

[The Backlash Cometh]

15. My father today, who is still a little despondent from losing his partner

of 52 years, said that history has a long memory. I'm sure the Washington Post will be remembered poorly, because this is the age of the blog, and the Washington Post is yesterday's newspaper.

[Robbien]

8. The two so called WSJ "reporters" who wrote the smear piece

on liberal bloggers:

mailto:[e-mail]
mailto:[e-mail]

I sent them the article. We all should and fill up their email boxes with the truth for a change.

[Mel]

12. I wrote the

propagandists when I first read their article here's the reply I received from Bandler.

Thanks for your note (my name).

Keep reading the Journal.

Bulkeley, hasn't responded.

So is what I received pretty much their standard reply to the rest of you that sent them email about this?

[McCamy Taylor]

22. done and done

:mad:

[daleo]

5. Another whore.

No surprise really. The mainstream press is probably shot through with this sort of thing.

[Robbien]

6. The guy throwing mud at liberal bloggers on the Bush payroll

How did he not think this fact would come out when he wrote the mud slinging story?

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. Maybe it's because he's counting on the MSM to cover his ass?

And do what they're well known for when it comes to supporting the "liberal" side: Nothing.

[rawstory]

19. He didn't write the story...

he's just on the editorial board. and i think as the seattle times smear example shows, the line between the editorial board and the newsroom at the journal isn't as thick as it might be, which begs a question of at least the appearance of impropriety. that's all i was trying to suggest in the article -- that the appearance of impropriety the journal threw at kos and mydd is present at the journal itself.

[Eric J in MN]

27. It would be nice if you could find out more about what

William McGurn did at the commission.

It seems to me that either he was in a postion to directly get people jobs at the White House, or was given easy access to people who get people jobs at the White House.

Being given the power to get people prestigious jobs, including the sons and daughters of people William McGurn may want to influence, is a form of payment.

Regarding the distinction of his being an editor and not a reporter, I would say that both should avoid conflicts-of-interest.

A newspaper edtitor working for the White House is a conflict-of-interest.

[ClintonTyree]

46. What the hell..............

big business runs the country anyway, we may as well have the unvarnished lies come directly from the horse's mouth. He'll be Bush's speech writer now (what he really needs is a speech therapist) so we'll be able to get Wall Street's agenda first hand.
This entire issue is a travesty, but the Bushbots won't see any conflict of interest or impropriety here. After all, Resident Bush is such an honest, god fearing war Resident that there is nothing short of outright murder on the White House steps that could tarnish their image of him.

[Eric J in MN]

25. The editor on the Bush Admin. board didn't write the

anti-"Daily Kos" article.

[Robbien]

34. Yes, I was in error

The chief editorial writer of the WSJ is the one paid by Bush. Staff writers wrote the smear piece. But isn't there a connection? Doesn't the chief editorial writer give assignments and/or approve copy of staff writers?

[Eric J in MN]

38. I don't that editor's responsibilities. It's a good question NT

nt

[Eric J in MN]

29. I don't know if it's a paid position or not , in terms of money

But the commission has the power to get young people prestigious jobs at the White House, as White House fellows.

[Buddyblazon]

11. I couldn't write a long drawn out email....

so I just sent ol' Bill and James a quick "nanee nanee boo boo". Whatya think? Quick and to the point?

http://www.bluelemur.com/index.php?p=555

Wow...is this true? Are you guys "Armstrongs"?

Glad I'm not in your shoes.

Welp...good luck!

BB

[maddezmom]

13. Newsweek article on William McGurn

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6790433/site/newsweek/

[johnlal]

14. Who else is on the payroll?

These are like cockroaches. If you see one, there are probably twenty that you don't see. So who else is on the gov't payroll, and how much are they getting?

For instance... Since when did Charlie Daniels become an expert on prisons? How did he get access to the Guantanamo Bay facility to issue his now-famous chain letter about how everybody is being treated well- and they're all guilty anyway. How much did the government pay Charlie Daniels?

How about Dennis Miller? This one was really weird. He went from his strongly opinionated "rants" to blatant Bush butt-kissing. How much did the White House pay Dennis Miller?

Who else is out there? There should be an organization to ferret these people out of their holes.

[TexasLady]

17. or Ted Nugent

whats the deal on him?

[Itchinjim]

18. I'm pretty sure that Ted is is just plain nuts.

They dont have to pay him a cent to pimp for them.

[420inTN]

42. Nugent has been hardcore rw since Reagan/Bush...

or at least since Papa Bush's term. He's also a friend of Limbaugh.

[Blue_State_Elitist]

44. I wouldn't be surprised if this went all the way up to Rush himself...

A massive payroll list seems like the only explanation for the right's uncanny ability to all come out at once with exactly the same talking points on every channel for a sustained period of time.

The democrats often differ on the issues and liberal commentators tend to have very different views (case in point Franken vs. Malloy).


It wouldn't shock me if the BFEE payroll ran from Carlson to O'reilly to Pigboy himself.

[ClintonTyree]

48. Dennis Miller...............

is just a washed up whore who knew his career was hitting the skids. He was also smart enough to realize that becoming a Bush ass kisser would re-energize his faltering career and get his ugly face back on the television. Republicans have a herd mentality, if he could appeal to one, he could appeal to all. And it worked. He became THE Conservative "comedian" pundit (to counter Al Franken). The only problem is he sucks as both a comedian and a pundit.

[Eric J in MN]

20. So what. The article wasn't an op-ed. (nt)

nt

[Eric J in MN]

32. My initial reaction above didn't consider that the point is

conflicts-of-interest at the WSJ, not whether the editor was involved in the anti- "Daily Kos" story.

Newspaper editors should not work for the White House.

Wall St. Journal editor William McGurn has a conflict of interest even if he isn't paid money, becase of the power he is getting from the position at the White House.

[rehema]

21. MSM is trying to attack the popular Democratic discussion sites

First DU and now dkos and others.

I don't trust ANY of the MSM anymore.

[McCamy Taylor]

23. Rove will probably plant some Hinkley at DU, then claim we drove him bats

First they will have to find a dysfunctional rich, Texas right wing family that drove their boy crazy. Then they will write some sort of crazy posts and pretend that he wrote them and get some of their Freeper goons to write pretend posts egging him on to commit crimes. Then, they will frame him for said crime. So, be on the look out for a fictious oddball and Freepers egging him on. If any of them show up

1.RECOMMEND THAT HE GETS PROFESSIONAL HELP!
2. NOTIFY THE MODS
3. SAY "NO WAY" TO VIOLENCE

Does DU have a prominently posted Mission Statement saying that it will not tolerate anyone advocating breaking the law or using hate speech or language designed to incite others to violence?

[rehema]

49. NO doubt some Rove flunkies are already posting here n/t

[Justitia]

24. So Bush's minions are scared of Dean

This ridiculous non-story failure of a smear against Dean was laughable out of the gate.

What I did not know was who was the scaredy-cat behind the story - another Dem or the Shrub White House.

It's the White House huh?

So, if DEAN is the guy that scares them so much they embarrass themselves with desperate crap like the "blogger" story, then DEAN is the guy for me.

Bring Me Howard Dean, the man who makes the RWers piss on themselves.

[upperleftedge]

26. Media schmedia...

He said, you said, I said, they said, she said, we said it must of been something that was said. Actually it is the things they don't say that are important.
A little story popped up this morning and promptly disappeared. "US troops launch raids to curb pre-election violence" was the headline and the story began; "US troops have staged a series of raids in Northern and Central Iraq arresting dozens," and then went on to tell of the many Insurgent attacks and never got back to the "raids" and "arrests". I realized that this was the "Salvadorian Option" being put into practice in spite of the Pentagon denials. I searched around and finally found the story linked on AllHatNoCattle. It was from "Ireland on Line" and was still there the last time I looked. I couldn't find it in the MSM. All gone, forget about it, nothing to see here. It is the stories that don't run because of the 'demand' for more information on the Murder of the Month that we need to yell about! The blogger crap in the WSJ should have been met with a simple denial and a demand for a retraction. Not as an excuse to re-form the ever popular Democratic circular firing squad.
The great strength of the internet IMHO is that we can get to the truth faster than the MSM because we have more connecions. We have people in the belly of the beast and on the ground with access. I really think in a few years or less the nightly news on TV will include "Blog News @ Six: the latest posts!" with some guy saying: "Newsflash; This just in from DU...." or "Kos revealed today..."
Don't laugh, it is serious business.

[Eric J in MN]

28. The Salvadoran Option refers to training

Iraqi death squads, not to Americans acting as death squads.

[upperleftedge]

30. Okay

Call it the "Salvadorian Variation". Sheesh.

[Eric J in MN]

31. Yes, you're right that whether US troops

are killing civilians is more important than terminology.

[saskatoon]

33. ...more important

Damn right!

[upperleftedge]

37. They are probably also

training Iraqi's, but it doesn't matter who pulls the trigger that kills you. Seymore Hersch's article in the New Yorker pretty much sums up what they are doing and what they are capable of. The pentagon issues a press release today saying Hersch had some of his facts wrong (has the ever happened?) but wouldn't confirm or deny that they were doing what he reported; sending Special Forces into Iran and nine other countries. Serious business, it is considered an "Act of War".

[MGKrebs]

36. Weird.

A google search for "William McGurn PNAC" (just to see if there is a connection) leads to this August page from...Daily Koz.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/8/19/17420/2834

In that page, the relevant passage mentions McGurn in connection with the Catholic Crisis magazine. So you check them out here:
http://www.crisismagazine.com/about.htm

...and who is a contributing editor? One Terry Teachout. I can't tell if that's a relation to Zephyr or not, and even if it is, if that would mean anything. Just strange.

Why would a 5 month old Koz post be the FIRST google return from "William McGurn PNAC"?

And then a "Teachout" connected also? Perhaps there is another layer to the story.

Or perhaps I should stay away from the internet for a while.

[Cell Whitman]

39. Armstrong is on the take from the Conservative's #1 Sugar Daddy

New here, I think I am kind of spun around and likely posted this elsewhere...but...

I think if we get to talking about financing the manipulation of our country via buying new right operatives, we should remember the BIG guy, the conservatives' savior, the guy who lead them out of the 40 year liberal wilderness, the guy who guided and financed the theofascist's takeover of our government, Moon. The right didn't takeover as an outgrowth of the free market of ideas.

Gorenfeld has a post on Armstrong selling out and another below it on 250 grand to the Bush inaugural from Moon.

http://www.iapprovethismessiah.com/

_____

check this out...

From “Moonstruck: The Reverend and his Newspaper” by Ann Louise Bardach, an article that was originally to have appeared in Vanity Fair in 1992 but was killed. The article finally saw print in 2004 when included in the book Killed, Great Journalism Too Hot to Print by David Wallis. (Amazon http://tinyurl.com/63nfq )

quoting:

Charlotte Hayes, who wrote a hilarious and snarky memoir in The New Republic entitled "I was a Moonie Gossip Columnist," still laments the loss of the generous expense account she had at the paper. "This is on the Rev.," Hayes, a thoroughbred conservative, would tell sources as she lunged for meal checks. "The Times," she added drolly, "is a place for free market conservatives to escape the free market."

Some insiders say that the Unification Church was the number one contributor to conservative causes throughout the 1980s. In 1984, the church gave $750,000 to the Conservative Alliance, a group spearheaded by the late Terry Dolan. It was a transaction riddled with irony: the Church fiercely condemns homosexuality and Dolan, a closeted gay man, was already sick with AIDS. Two years later the church bailed direct-mail king Richard Viguerie out of financial trouble with a whopping $10 million. Observers saw the transactions as a reward for a long friendship; Viguerie handled the Church's direct mail business since the late '60s. In 1988, the church made a $50,000 contribution to George Bush's re-election campaign.

(Dolan, I hear, was the father of the attack ad.)

_____

Here's some fun...send this link to your fundie friends and ask them if they ever read John 5:43.

http://cellwhitman.blogspot.com/

[David Zephyr]

41. Dean Hits Back.

[rehema]

43. Democrats should check out the bin laden tapes

voice over seems to be a trait of rethugs
Reminds me the bin laden tapes

<snip>
Companies and government agencies use video news releases to promote their products and programs on TV news shows.

<snip>
Some video releases simply provide footage that stations can use with their own narrations. But others, such as the ones offered by the Bush administration, include complete 90-second stories with introductions that can be read by a TV anchor and narration by people who sound as if they are reporters. They are actually PR employees or voice-over performers hired by the producer of the news releases

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/01/17/Worldandnation/Critics__Bush_s_PR_wa.shtml

[obiwan]

45. Test only.

[Cooley Hurd]

47. I hope this expands and destroys the credibility of the MSM...

...in the public's eyes (of course, to your average DUer, their credibilty's been shot for years).

Hope FauxNews falls...

Hope CNN falls...

NYT, WP, WSJ, fall, fall, fall...

The corrupt system needs to be purged, once and for all!:thumbsup: