Wash Post: Columnist Backing Bush Plan Had Federal Contract

[Newsjock]

Edit to add link and change title to conform to published version
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36545-2005Jan25.html

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 26, 2005; Page C01

In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush's push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.

"The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples" and "educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage," she wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could "carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children."

But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal. Her work under the contract, which ran from January through October 2002, included drafting a magazine article for the HHS official overseeing the initiative, writing brochures for the program and conducting a briefing for department officials.

... Gallagher received an additional $20,000 from the Bush administration in 2002 and 2003 for writing a report, titled "Can Government Strengthen Marriage?", for a private organization called the National Fatherhood Initiative. That report, published last year, was funded by a Justice Department grant, said NFI spokesman Vincent DiCaro. Gallagher said she was "aware vaguely" that her work was federally funded.

more

[darkism]

1. When it rains, it pours!

First Williams, now this.

LET THE SCANDALS RAIN DOWN ON THIS CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION!

[rehema]

17. Read how Gallagher is trying to put a spin on her contract with HHS

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=115&ncid=758&e=1&u=/ucmg/20050126/cm_ucmg/aquestionofdisclosure

[Chicago Democrat]

23. Pathetic, what a whore!

:puke:

[chomskysright]

140. HERE IS CBS president's email: [e-mail]

Hello Mr. Moonves or Ms. Tellum (Moonves has been president since 1998); Ms. Tellum must be an assistant

[Supersedeas]

27. crafting an email in response to her 'apology'

[gulfcoastliberal]

30. Ah, the good 'ol "I could not recall" excuse...

"I should have disclosed a government contract when I later wrote about the Bush marriage initiative. I would have, if I had remembered it. My apologies to my readers."

What a waste of space.

[Old and In the Way]

52. Did she remember to cash her checks?......................nt

[ashling]

106. Good description of Gallagher

What a waste of space.

[jobycom]

121. Used to call that the "Reagan Defense," before the media

turned that fucking criminal into a saint. That's how he got around self-incrimination in the Iran-Contra scandal. You remember that one, everyone? Where Reagan sold weapons to a nation that had declared war on us, so that they could fight another nation that we were supplying with arms, then diverted the funds of those sales illegally to terrorist groups in Central America who were using our funds to slaughter tens of thousands of innocent people, not to mention killing American priests and raping American nuns, while attempting to destabilize the entire region, so that the Soviets, who were already dead but were being propped up by Reagan's government so we would have an enemy to rally against, couldn't gain control? (Hey, you try summing up the Reagan administration in one sentence!).

"Mr. President, did you know about the sale of arms to Iraq?" "Well, I don't recall if I knew."

[gulfcoastliberal]

127. Ah, yes.

Congress should've so impeached that mofo.

[jobycom]

144. He would have gone to jail if Bush Daddy hadn't pardoned

the people who could have been forced to testify against it.

[ashmanonar]

152. i can summarize his presidency in 2 words.

FUCKING AMERICA

[jobycom]

123. Looks like a Rove defense strategy. Flood the market with unknown

names of unethical violators. By the time they get around to the big names, people are bored with the story, and the media just ignores it, claiming no one cares anymore. Years later they will chastise themselves, but then graciously let themselves off the hook. Of course, we'll be the United States of Carlysle by then.

At least Dan Rather was trying to report the truth, even if some of his evidence was unverified (it still hasn't been proven false). These Bush payroll babies were paid to advertise, under the guise of journalism. There are few worse sins in a democracy.

[aikido15]

68. Bush's policies are so bad...

he has to pay the media to promote them...what a joke!

[farmbo]

99. LOL.She's claiming she got the contract "on merit" for her research skill!

...and not because she just so happened to have a newspaper column.

Are the Bushies so arrogant that they actually believe this tripe?


:crazy:

[EVDebs]

154. Hmmmm. She's got an Institute for Marriage and Public Policy ...could be

useful in 'plausible denial' kind of distancing from a money-laundering point of view if you know what I mean. Krikey, even CBS News (in a report "War on Waste" a few yrs back) could REPORT on DoD's inability to account for a measly $2.3 trillion dollars. Of course, no one would DO anything about that kind of money...

It does beg the question 'how many more Williams, Gallaghers, etc. there really are out there? ' spewing disinformation or propaganda for this corrupt bunch...

[vs the introvore]

158. research skills?!?! was her 'grant-writing' skills that paid bills. sic.

also-
yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. tripe! delicious, even!

yessir, and i'll have the tripe, please. yes, top-shelf tripe, of course! and a glass of your finest bile. yes, thank you.

[SillyGoose]

104. What an arrogant SOB

---But the real truth is that it never occurred to me. On reflection, I think Howard is right. I should have disclosed a government contract when I later wrote about the Bush marriage initiative. I would have, if I had remembered it. My apologies to my readers.---

She would have if she had REMEMBERED it? How the hell do you not f*cking remember you had a government contract??? We need a Special Prosecutor NOW.

:grr:

[bear425]

29. The problem is: how much do you hear about Williams

After about a week, it's played
out in the Murican interest.
Let's see how long this story lasts
and if it has legs for the long run...
then I'll get excited.

[stanwyck]

134. The rightwing is not paying

attention. They only listen to the hate talkers on radio. I've mentioned Armstrong Williams several times. They don't know the story. Guess Rush and Sean aren't interested in...wonder why? Are they jealous of not getting payola? Or do they know they're next?

[radfringe]

91. good press-puppy...

here's a biscuit..


now what does this say about the sincerity level of support for bush*'s policies/proposals when he has to PAY people to write the columns/stories?

so bush* inc. pays someone to write a story in support of Policy-X, and then bush* inc. points to that story and says "lookee here, all these people support our policy...."

kinda like rigging a poll or an election then claiming a mandate...

[vs the introvore]

159. i can't believe They do this by PAYING people.

now i figure, by my own personal paranoid musings, that this shit is heinous. i totally blame these fargin journalists who frikkin bite into the red meat of capitalism and then eat out their own hearts. man, they suck ass. integrity scabs, man. i'd tell em. integrity scabs all over and tough, yer platelets devising a fractal weave of armor in a futile attempt to protect the soft pink truth. I'd tell 'em- YOU SUCK THE ASS OF 'DEMOCRACY' FOR MONEY YOU FUCKING WHOOOOOORES! pardonez mois.

[hatrack]

2. Surprise, surprise, surprise!

Whores coming out of the woodwork one by one.

[candy331]

8. That was some cheap sex by her wasn't it, thought whores got paid

much more was she taken for a ride/is she lying about the amount?

[TankLV]

62. If I gave you a million dollars, would you sleep with me?

Oh, my, what a request, you adorable man!

How about a dollar?

A dollar? You horrible man! Just what kind of woman do you think I am?!

I know what kind of woman you are, what I am attempting to do is find out how much I have to pay!

(my apologies to WC Fields)

[Sydnie]

3. And another one bites the dust!

Love it, love it, love it! Let the damn break and let it all fall down!

Just how many contracts do they have out there? How many reporters can we prove were bought and paid for shills? It boggles the mind!

edited to add -- She must be really pissed after finding out that she was only worth 21 grand and Armstrong was worth 6 figures!

[pdxmom]

4. I think this is still just the tip of the iceberg. n/t

[KittyWampus]

5. Only $21,500? At Least Armstrong Got More Money. If You're Going To

whore... you might as well VALUE yourself.

Geez.

[Betsy Ross]

10. Cheap whore at that. n/t

[aquart]

59. Women are always paid less.

This was what? Ten times less?

[TankLV]

63. Glass ceiling. Repuke values at its best!

[Momgonepostal]

129. I'll bet she's pissed she didn't get as much

[Turbineguy]

147. Now she can sue!

"I want as much as men. I was just as much of a whore as Armstrong!"

[mitchum]

150. Distaff shills still fetch a lower price than "Strom's favorite Negro"

[VegasWolf]

6. but, but, wasn't the other one an ISOLATED incidence? n/t

[maddezmom]

12. yeah, just another bad apple in the world of *co

:shrug:

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

18. Yes, but how did this 2nd bad apple get discovered...

... and can the same methods be used to expose the 3rd, 4th,... nth?

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Yeah! It's happening!

[Solar]

9. Nothing is making my gay little heart happier!

The Bush House of Cards continues to fall down. Hopefully even the media will not ignore this. People will wake up now.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. I wonder if she's angry that Armstrong WIlliams got paid so much more.

And I wonder even more how many other 'hos like them will surface.

[nashville_brook]

60. wow! my thought exactly! all the whores now have a boom market in

extortion.

[despairing optimist]

13. So which "journalists" are accepting payola for Social Security "reform"?

That's the $64 trillion question. Are they all on the take?

[jrthin]

35. I just assume most of them

are, one way or another.

[Cobalt Violet]

46. Oh Yeah! Let's find them all.

[AZCat]

14. We need a good method of approximating...

the actual number of "contracted" journalists.

I predict that within the next few months there will be more journalists exposed for having contracts with the Bush Administration. Unfortunately I don't see all of the bastards being outed in the end - it is inevitable that some will evade detection.

What I think we need is a good way to approximate the total number of "contracted" journalists based on the number exposed, in the same vein as how the DEA calculates yearly quantities of smuggled drugs based on how much they nab.

What do you think a good estimate is - one in ten will get nabbed? :shrug:

[bagnana]

15. FOIA request, PLEASE

I hope some intrepid (nonwhore) reporter files a FOIA request to find out which journalists received money from the federal government.

[pdxmom]

16. She already has her "mea culpa" online

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=115&ncid=742&e=7&u=/ucmg/20050125/cm_ucmg/aquestionofdisclosure

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. Look at these two opposing paragraphs in her online mea culpa

My first instinct is to say, no, Howard, I had no special obligation to disclose this information. I'm a marriage expert. I get paid to write, edit, research and educate on marriage. If a scholar or expert gets paid to do some work for the government, should he or she disclose that if he writes a paper, essay or op-ed on the same or similar subject? If this is the ethical standard, it is an entirely new standard.

AND

But the real truth is that it never occurred to me. On reflection, I think Howard is right. I should have disclosed a government contract when I later wrote about the Bush marriage initiative. I would have, if I had remembered it. My apologies to my readers.

She needs to be fired!

[Supersedeas]

33. oh reflection-next paragraph-switch gears-reverse course-convenient

[vs the introvore]

161. she's already been nailed by the wiki!

quote from wikipedia entry for maggie gallagher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Gallagher

entry titled "payola"

entry begins, "On January 26, 2005, Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post uncovered records of Gallagher receiving payments of tens of thousands..."

wow. wiki at work. extemporanaeous definitions for now, in real time.

[RandomKoolzip]

19. Ha ha ha!

I love when assholes get caught.

[opiate69]

21. Makes me wonder about Safire's retirement.. interesting timing.

[gulfcoastliberal]

31. Good point - he must've made a mint!

Ah, to be living in the decline. Dark clouds on the horizon.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Maggie Gallagher is such a consistent rightwing shill that

I'm surprised they have to pay her.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

149. LOL!!! eom

[yorkiemommie1]

24. whether it's wars or NCLB or other initiatives like this...

... they're all 'products' to the WH. Andrew Card referred to the Iraq adventure as a 'new product', the WH has admitted that it will sell its SS initiatives. They're 'selling' a war on Iran to us now.

[paineinthearse]

25. Just three words:

SPECIAL PROSECUTOR NOW

[paineinthearse]

28. Contact Senate HELP Committee

428 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-6300
[phone] - voice
[phone] - TDD

Majority Staff #: [phone]
Minority Staff #: [phone]

===============================================
http://help.senate.gov/committee_members.html

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS

Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY)
Senator Judd Gregg (NH)
Senator Edward Kennedy (MA), Ranking Member
Senator Bill Frist (TN)
Senator Christopher Dodd (CT)
Senator Lamar Alexander (TN)
Senator Tom Harkin (IA)
Senator Richard Burr (NC)
Senator Barbara Mikulski (MD)
Senator Johnny Isakson (GA)
Senator James Jeffords (I) (VT)
Senator Mike DeWine (OH)
Senator Jeff Bingaman (NM)
Senator John Ensign (NV)
Senator Patty Murray (WA)
Senator Orrin Hatch (UT)
Senator Jack Reed (RI)
Senator Jeff Sessions (AL)
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY)
Senator Pat Roberts (KS)

[ashmanonar]

153. how about just a prosecutor?

why do we have to get a "special prosecutor" every time we want to investigate someone? let's get any of the remaining investigative services (the ones that haven't been destroyed by bush) into the fray! get the fbi looking, get the justice dep--oh, no, we can't do that...jesus...our internal investigative departments are gone!

that's scarier than all the rest. it's not the war that scares me...it's the fact that we probably won't be able to call anyone on it.

[NYC Liberal]

26. Sorry, gotta say it:

There goes that Liberal media!

[tibbiit]

32. the great thing about this

that needs to be emphasized over and over that this is NOW NOT ISOLATED!
Williams was paid by Education, this one by HHS.
That is a BIG Deal imo.
tib

edit for spelling:)

[PurityOfEssence]

34. So when is Howie Kurtz going to stop sucking the dick of power?

He's been a very useful functionary, skewing things toward the Republicans for years. Can someone convince him that they'll destroy him now that he's crossed the line?

[Pirate Smile]

36. How did Kurtz find out?

[seriousstan]

37. ANOTHER COLUMNIST WAS PAID TO PROMOTE BUSH PROPOSAL

In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush's push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.

But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal, reveals Howard Kurtz in Wednesday runs of the WASHINGTON POST.

"The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples" and "educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage," she wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could "carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children."

Gallagher explains to Kurtz: "Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it? I don't know. You tell me." She said she would have "been happy to tell anyone who called me" about the contract but that "frankly, it never occurred to me" to disclose it.

http://www.drudgereport.com/flash3mg.htm

Note: I realize the feeling as per Drudge around here, but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

[Pirate Smile]

38. Here it is from the Washington Post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1183166

[burythehatchet]

39. I believe her

it never occurred to her to disclose that info. Ethics doesn't come easily, if ever, to these troglodites. No offense to actual troglodites.

[demgrrrll]

40. Oh Ok I'll tell her. Yes you are a shameless paid shill without ethics

bought and paid for by the Bush administration. There. Happy?

[babylonsister]

41. And where the hell is the corporate media, FCC, dept. of

Health and Human Svcs, for not disclosing that our tax dollars are funding this?
And if drudge is reporting this, is it true?

[Sir Jeffrey]

42. I'm beginning to see a pattern here...

Just felt like stating the obvious :)

[Botany]

43. How many more whores for hire are out there?

Some big names, some little names, and where is the money coming from.

Check out Creative Response Concepts (google search) and you can
see where the whores get their stories.

LLBR

[ebayfool]

65. Google comes up w/the swift boat liars?! They ARE scummy!

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/007879.php
http://www.prweek.com/news/news_story_free.cfm?ID=222586&site=3
snip/
You know the Rathergate battle has been won when PR firms step into the breach and try to take credit. Reader Mashiki Amiketo pointed us to this amusing article in PR Week:

Two DC PR agencies eagerly fanned the flames of election-year scandal last week - one for the left and one for the right.
Creative Response Concepts (CRC), the VA-based agency promoting the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, used right-wing blogs and news sites to turn a CBS report casting doubt on President George W. Bush's National Guard service into a potential black eye for both the network and the Democrats.
snip/
CRC worked with CNS and the Media Research Center, another media watchdog client, to push the story into the mainstream press.

"We've been communicating with bloggers and news websites to make sure they know it isn't just Rush Limbaugh and Matt Drudge who are raising questions," added CRC president Greg Mueller.

Ooooh, DailyKos is on this!:headbang: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/1/10/211239/514
snip/
Here's a client list of Creative Response Concepts that Digby posted in September.
"Among its clients are the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee. Its client list also includes the Christian Coalition, National Taxpayers Union, Media Research Council and Regnery Publishing. Regnery is the firm that published "Unfit for Command," the SBVT screed against Kerry's military record."

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2004_09_05_digbysblog_archive.html



They have a yahoo group digging up goodies - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nopunditleftbehind/

[Supersedeas]

107. that is the real question HOW MANY MORE?

[vs the introvore]

160. holy shrikes! man, i hate to do this, but...

this is the first result for googling maggie gallagher...

http://www.maggieg.co.uk/

i guess i am shilling now.
but you sure know how i got paid for this one! Whoooooooah!
Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooah!

[Skittles]

47. it never occurred to her to disclose it

that, Ms. Gallagher, is exactly what makes you a f***ing WHORE

[BlueManDude]

49. Kristol and Krauthammer consulted on innagural speech...

then praised it in print and on the air.

[aquart]

56. Didn't offer Drudge any?

[fshrink]

57. Like about 90% of the media for the last 4 years.

[leesa]

44. So how much was Baby Jesus Hannity paid? And O'Reilly? And

all the rest of the Bush Whores?

[Rainscents]

45. Never Ending!!!

Let it Rain, let it rain!!!

[Cobalt Violet]

50. Bu$hCo. must pay big bucks to Faux,

All these shill are saying that they don't know if it's wrong or not. How stupid.

[qanda]

48. They know how to define true media whoredom

[wicket]

51. OMFG!!!!!

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[Cobalt Violet]

53. Mike Malloy was just talking about this topic!

GO Mike GO ! :kick:

[Old and In the Way]

54. Turns out, media whores is an apt description of the RW media today.

[LynneSin]

55. Hey George - send me $100k and I'll post nice things about you here on DU

:eyes:

[TankLV]

64. Hey - pay me! I'm going for only $99,000!

Bidding war?!

[LynnTheDem]

94. $98,999 here!

:D

[Buns_of_Fire]

105. Do I hear $90,000?

You sure do! (Hi, Agent Mike! :hi: ) Yes, for this week and this week only, I am offering my invaluable services for the paltry sum of $90,000!

To prove my sincerity, I'll even post something BEFORE I recieve payment! Here it is:

George W. Bush is... er... President Bush has... um... The President... uh.....

Look, just send me the ninety big ones and I'll think of something. No bills over $500, please. I'll accept a check, but you'll have to wait on the nice comment until it clears. Hey, trust me. :evilgrin:

[Soth]

124. George Bush is only 99.99% evil.

Now where's my damn money?

[vs the introvore]

162. "george w bush is as good as artificial intelligence is ever gonna get.

honest and for true.
spare any change mistuh?

[pointcounter]

58. Can anyone spell mail fraud?

seems to me this goebels trained propagandist should be investigated and possibly prosecuted.

didn't she had a duty of honest service to those hiring her to disclose who was paying her to write what she was writing.

[vs the introvore]

163. can anyone pronounce male fraud?

i'll do a story on the divinity of brush-clearing, sir, for ninety-nine dollars down and ninety-nine dollars a month.

[Dr Fate]

61. DEMS need to be on TV saying "Bush pays the media to lie for him."

Bring up this, then bring up that dude who he paid to tout one of his education policies...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-06-williams-whitehouse_x.htm

This needs to be household talking point-
Of course, I doubt any DEMS beides a few can be that blunt & exact...

I'll bet DEMS will allow this to die on the vine just like all the other Bush scandals.

[Buddyblazon]

66. The kicker....

"But the real truth is that it never occurred to me. On reflection, I think Howard is right. I should have disclosed a government contract when I later wrote about the Bush marriage initiative. I would have, if I had remembered it. My apologies to my readers. "

...so you talk about Williams lame excuses. Then in the end...you try to convince people you just forgot? You just forgot that you made +20k from the government to peddle their agenda?! Just forgot.

Well honey...I may have been born at night. But i wasn't born LAST night. You insult our intelligence with brittle excuses like that.

May a whale bequeath himself on your carpet.

[Supersedeas]

109. nice tie bt her castigation of Williams and her forgetness

[global1]

67. Maybe Novak Is Blackmailing *Co ....

let's say he was paid - he's using that as leverage to keep himself out of jail. Novak: "If I go down - I'll take you all down." What do you think?

[laundry_queen]

70. That very thought crossed my mind yesterday. n/t

[KDLarsen]

93. Unlikely..

.. after all, *co can throw Novak's sorry ass behind bars on a National Security excuse (he did out an active CIA asset, y'know) - and keep him from speaking to anyone.

[LiviaOlivia]

69. kick

[Spazito]

71. There is an unrelenting irony in this...

I totally believe Kurtz but can't help but see him as doing the old "look over here but don't look over there" over as a "hail mary pass" in hopes that no one will notice that he has been a sycophant for the bush admin and his wife works for that same cabal. I suspect his outing others is to point fingers in hopes that those fingers don't point at him.

His revelation about Gallagher is true but so is the fact that he has "prostituted" himself in defending the bush cabal and we are NOT to look at the fact that his wife is paid by them. Hypocrisy knows NO bounds.

[pinniped]

72. Ya, no connection here. Just like there was no improper/illegal...

influence from that POS vp and the POS company he used to work for and the multi-billion dollar Iraqi contracts.

Nah, it's all just a coincedence. I know the repuke bastards on the gunsite got mad when I pointed that out before.

They don't want the truth because they can't handle the truth. It's no wonder most of them watch that POS faux news.

[Liberty Belle]

73. Another Columnist was Paid to Promote Bush Proposal

ANOTHER COLUMNIST WAS PAID TO PROMOTE BUSH PROPOSAL
Tue Jan 25 2005 20:13:59 ET

In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush's push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.

But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal, reveals Howard Kurtz in Wednesday runs of the WASHINGTON POST.

"The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples" and "educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage," she wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could "carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children."

....Developing story at www.drudgereport.com

[foo_bar]

74. I'm shocked. Shocked!

Shouldn't drudge have a disclaimer on the subject?

[Liberty Belle]

76. I wonder how much he's being paid?

[Acryliccalico]

75. They will start falling like cards.

One by One, just sit back and watch. :kick:

[0007]

98. The motto "Either your with us or against us"

junior uses people in that he either corrupts them through bribery or controls through fear.

Armstrong Williams leave no child behind was just an isolated incident, eh?

[CoffeeCat]

77. I like these little victories, but...

I wish we could root out the direct connections between the White House and the big-dogs in the conservative media.

I want to see Limbaugh go down. We all know he gets his talking points directly from the White House. He needs to be outed.

Also, Fox News needs to be destroyed. The connection between the White House and Fox News needs to be revealed as well. The propaganda on that channel is so over-the-top that it's embarrassing to our country.

I'm not trying to be a sourpuss. I do like these small victories. However, they are forgotten in a week.

I do hope that we are on our way to exposing the direct connection between the White House and the more prominent individuals in the right-wing media.

[Erika]

78. I have contacted NRO "Corner" and

expressed my views. I thought I could at least get an unpimped conservative view from NRO. I let them know my disgust. I encourage others to also do this.

[oldtime dfl_er]

79. so which "reporters" or "journalists" are right now

promoting social security reform? Anyone who is doing that right now, you KNOW they're on the WH payroll. Should be an easy one to figure out.

www.cafepress.com/showtheworld

[pgh_dem]

131. George Will is one of them

Whether he's getting paid or not, he's a shill for the SS 'fix'.

[bluestateguy]

80. She always struck me as a rather vapid, mediocre columnist

I've read her columns, and her writings did not strike me as terribly noteworthy for their intellect.

[susu369]

111. Totally agree

Long ago I read a couple of her columns and found them downright silly and stopped wasting my time reading any more.

[AuntiBush]

81. Talk about "big payoffs"

Does the worse get any better than this? Sometimes, it's best to stand back and let them hang themselves.

[Liberty Belle]

82. This is better: FOX NEWSHOUNDS ON WH PAYOLA!

Kristol, Krauthammer lauded Bush inauguration speech without disclosing their role as consultants

Weekly Standard editor William Kristol lauded President George W. Bush's inauguration speech as "powerful," "impressive," and "historic," both in an article for the January 31 print edition of The Weekly Standard and as a FOX News political contributor during FOX's live coverage of Inauguration Day. Washington Post columnist and FOX News contributor Charles Krauthammer, also during FOX News' live Inauguration Day coverage, called Bush's speech "revolutionary" and compared it to fomer President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural address. But Kristol and Krauthammer were consultants for Bush's speech -- a fact that neither disclosed.

A January 22 Washington Post article, titled "Bush Speech Not a Sign of Policy Shift, Officials Say," quoted Kristol praising Bush's address as a "rare inaugural speech that will go down as a historic speech, I believe." The Post article then noted that Kristol and Krauthammer had contributed to planning Bush's speech. According to the Post:

The planning of Bush's second inaugural address began a few days after the Nov. 2 election with the president telling advisers he wanted a speech about "freedom" and "liberty." That led to the broadly ambitious speech that has ignited a vigorous debate. The process included consultation with a number of outside experts, Kristol among them.

One meeting, arranged by Peter Wehner, director of the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives, included military historian Victor Davis Hanson, columnist Charles Krauthammer and Yale professor John Lewis Gaddis, according to one Republican close to the White House.

<snip>

http://mediamatters.org/items/200501240006

[Erika]

83. So Kristol was a paid consultant

while writing right-wing columns for the Weekly Standard? I think McCain would be interested in that. I will also contact them and urge others to do so.

[accipiter]

84. They're all on the take and getting paid with our tax dollars!!!!!

It's fucking maddening.

[earth mom]

130. Exactly! They are using OUR MONEY for their FILTHY HOs!

but they don't want to spend any of OUR money for the things that matter to US like health care. F-IN S.O.Bs! :puke:

[Dr Fate]

85. Proof that Bush pays the media to lie for him.DEMS need to talk about this

Whenever they are on TV, DEMS need to remind audiences of the bias by bringing this up.

[Spazito]

86. Kurtz is "outing" others in hopes they will overlook...

the very relevant fact that his wife works with the bush cabal. He is sooo obvious as be be nauseating, imo.
:puke:

[cthrumatrix]

87. I can't wait until the MSM contracts and influence are revealed

[Spazito]

89. I suspect Mr. Armstrong is but the beginnings of the "chink in...

the armor" of the bush administration. Paying off the media to massage the message is commonplace as opposed to be an "anomaly" as some would like us to believe.

[Ganja Ninja]

101. Kurtz is like the pot calling the pot black.

:eyes: He's be pouring the Bush Koolaid all along.

[KC21304]

128. Just because the check in the Kurtz household has

his wife's name on it doesn't make him any purer.

[vs the introvore]

165. and chicken is like the post calling the poster high.

out of deference to trademark infringements, i'd say, "the bush bug juice" CYO camp staple.

[GetTheRightVote]

88. one by one they fell behind the truth coming to the light .....

So it begins ..........

:kick:

[R Hickey]

90. This systematic system of bribery is just like H. Truman's China Lobby

Back in the late forties and early fifties President Truman used to complain about the "China Lobby." The China Lobby (Taiwan) bribed everybody. They bribed thousands of media people, every single year. The bribes were called 'grants' and other pleasant-sounding names. They would bribe anyone who wrote, broadcast, taught, or promoted anything that would favor Taiwan's side of the news.

This mass-bribery is still going on, but in addition to the pioneering bribery-breakthroughs of Taiwan, it is also now being practiced by many other groups, including Israelies, Saudis, and the Neo-cons.

[cornermouse]

92. This needs to be brought to the public's attention.

[bklyncowgirl]

95. Another one comes out of the woodwork, Ha Ha! nt

[theHandpuppet]

96. And just how do we know this kind of GOP money...

... isn't being passed on to thousands of smaller papers around the country, the very kind whose editors/publishers pandered to and delivered so much of Bush's base? Not all money has to come in big chunks from federal govt agencies to well-known syndicated columnists.

This is certainly not to say that there aren't plenty of journalists out there with integrity, but having lived in small town Amerika and knowing what crappy incomes most of them get in the newspaper biz, it has never ceased to amaze me just how many of them so aggressively shill for the Bush administration -- to the point where the editorial pages read like GOP press releases, word for word. My own local paper is just one such case. Of course, such small-town papers (at least in this area of the country) are usually owned by a larger parent company and GOP owner, one who not only sets the policy but hires and fires at the editorial level. You don't play, you don't eat, especially if the big-monied advertizers pull the plug. Oh, you'd recognize them all right -- the developers, the bankers, the car dealerships, the Chamber of Commerce folks whose votes probably went 95% for Bush.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Though such a revelation wouldn't be all that surprising, having seen just how the RW in this country managed its takeover of small town govts in this country, school board by school board, city council by city council... and just possibly newspaper by small-town newspaper.

Perhaps the more well-known columnists now exposed as "on the take" are not so much indicative of bigger names to come but are, infact, an end game which truly started on Main Street USA. Me, I'm not a tinfoil hatter, but I'm also old enough and cynical enough to not confuse naivete with optimism, for the former is exploitable. And that's the opinion this administration (and its "have-mores" base) has of its citizens -- naive, gullible, and thoroughly exploitable. From the evidence presented on Nov 2nd, I'd say they know us better than we know ourselves.

[snippy]

100. It is not GOP money, it is taxpayer money.

When Bush releases his budget in afew weeks democrats need to ask repeatedly how much taxpayer money has been budgeted for the administration to illegally bribe columnists and illegally produce propaganda.

[theHandpuppet]

116. Good point! But while the taxpayer monies may be used at the top levels...

... for the big payoffs there are other ways to funnel lesser bribe monies at the local level. That was a point I was trying to make, but apparently didn't make myself clear. If I may make a comparison, universities may not put monies in the pockets of their top athletes, but they have certain folks within their alumni associations to do it for them. This is the kind of setup of which I was thinking.

[snippy]

126. Bush doesn't bother with trying to conceal his corruption.

His administration has now been caught twice paying columnists with taxpayer money to lie on his behalf. There will be more. And the GAO has busted the administration twice for illegally spending taxpayer money to produce propaganda and there is another such investigation pending. Bush just says that he doesn't see anything wrong with breaking the law and Bush's followers just accept this since he is The Leader.

[Harry S Truman]

103. "Another newspaper on the take"

a great, if sad, meme to pass around. Especially to so many of these smaller papers who have been shilling for * and his war since day one.

[Catfight]

97. Damn, there seems to be a lot of bad apples associated to Bush.nt

[Zech Marquis]

102. how many MORE?

I seriously think that the whle MSM is more or les "under contract" with the BFEE...these can NOT be isolated incidents...

[MHalblaub]

108. "Sex, lies and pregnant teenager"

That's how German magazine "Der SPIEGEL" called this initiative.


http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,336375,00.html
(German, 3 months after publication you have to pay for the article)

Also a must read (English):
The Waxman-report.
http://www.democrats.reform.house.gov/Documents/20041201102153-50247.pdf

[FreeStateDemocrat]

110. A more subtle form of conservative media payoff also from Wash Post::

Reliable Source
By Richard Leiby

(Snip)

Four Big Thinkers' Big Rewards

• Pundit George F. Will is one of four lucky recipients of the $250,000 prizes handed out this year by the conservative Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation. Other winners just announced: Ward Connerly, the activist behind California's anti-affirmative-action referendum; Heather MacDonald, a scholar at the Manhattan Institute; and Princeton's Robert P. George, a member of President Bush's advisory council on bioethics.
The Milwaukee foundation, which established the "stipends" to reward big thinkers, also funds right-leaning policy shops such as the American Enterprise Institute. The selection committee included conservative luminaries Robert Bork, Jeanne Kirkpatrick and Charles Krauthammer (who is, of course, Will's fellow columnist). Will did not returns our calls inquiring about how he planned to spend his quarter-mil windfall. A Feb. 16 ceremony at the Kennedy Center will honor the winners.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36618-2005Jan25.html

[PROGRESSIVE1]

112. Kick

This is important. I see why there is so much of a right wing tilt in the media. Obviously they get paid to shill!

[Supersedeas]

145. the scab that runs deep....sooo deep--but to say the MSM caters to the RW

is just a damned tin-foil hat, grass knoll conspiracy...with developing signs of reality based evidence.

[Don1]

113. Why doesn't someone ever call the GOP bad memory bluff?

As someone mentioned before, did she forget to cash her check, too?
Really, this is a great point, because she actually received 3. Here is one potential claimed chronology stressing this point:
Jan 2002 -- received $21.5K check for writing propaganda until Oct.
Jan 2002 -- cashed $21.5K US Treasury check.
Jan 2002 -- forgot all about check.
Jan 2002 -- wrote propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
Feb 2002 -- wrote more propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
Mar 2002 -- wrote more propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
Apr 2002 -- wrote more propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
May 2002 -- wrote more propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
Jun 2002 -- wrote more propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
Jul 2002 -- wrote more propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
Aug 2002 -- wrote more propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
Sep 2002 -- wrote more propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
Oct 2002 -- wrote more propaganda. (still didn't remember check.)
Nov 2002 -- began writing "Can Government Strengthen Marriage"
Nov 2002 -- received $20K check from Government.
Nov 2002 -- cashed $20K US Treasury check.
Dec 2002 -- continued writing "Can Government Strengthen Marriage"
Jan 2003 -- continued writing "Can Government Strengthen Marriage"
Feb 2003 -- continued writing "Can Government Strengthen Marriage"
Feb 2003 -- received 2nd $20K check from Government.
Feb 2003 -- cashed $20K US Treasury check.
Feb 2003 -- became vaguely aware that there was some kind of government involvement in the funding of the her write-up, but the awareness was so vague that she couldn't formulate how to talk about it (ever).

Of coure, some of the dates I wrote are not correct. They are not available to me. But you get the point. Why can't the media call people on these "I do not recall, Senator" bluffs? This has been the GOP excuse now for decades. If they really have such a bad memory, then they should be fired/impeached for incompetence.

[Walt Starr]

114. Columnist paid to promote Bush policy

Items compiled from Tribune news services
Published January 26, 2005


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A syndicated columnist, who has repeatedly supported the Bush administration's push for a $300 million initiative to encourage marriage, also had a $21,500 federal contract to help promote the proposal, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Maggie Gallagher had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services. It ran from January through October 2002 and included drafting a magazine article for the department official overseeing the initiative, the Post reported.

"Did I violate journalistic ethics by not disclosing it?" Gallagher was quoted as saying Tuesday. "I don't know. You tell me."

<snip>

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0501260350jan26,1,610457.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=3&cset=true

That's two, now. I wonder how many were paid to promote the effort to go to war against Iraq? Hopefully we'll get real answers to the FOIA requests to the Pentagon.

[Name removed]

115. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sarcasmo]

120. Ollie North made that quote famous, "I do not recall", LMFAO.

[RPM]

117. asshat

some of the rich i know need more marriage councelling than the poor.

fuckwad.

[jswordy]

118. OH NO!!! Not another one!!!

As a journalist, I deplore this stuff, because the acts of a very few are going to taint the ethical and excellent work of many.

[Walt Starr]

119. Expect dozens once the FOIA requests are complied with

I suspect at least 20 were paid to promote going to war with Iraq.

[jswordy]

122. Once again, I repeat that this is a ....

...very small number of journalists when viewed in the context of the thousands who work for U.S. news media.

But this will feed the "media elite" crowd's agenda, for sure.

I hate that. There are many who diligently and ethically work in this demanding profession, and then a few of these unethical shills have to besmirch us all.

[Walt Starr]

125. Problem is, the unethical ones appear to be better paid

and have a wider circulation.

[0007]

167. Yes that's true, but the majority have been muzzled with fear

or threats.

[StephanieMarie]

132. The whole press has lost all shreds of dignity.

They need to clean up their own house, "out" all these illegal contracts, and end the careers of those who participated in the illegal government sponsored propaganda!

[stanwyck]

133. This does not surprise me at all

Maggie has always been a consumate whore. No one should be in the least shocked by this discovery. She's Vanna White for the Bushies. Flipping over whatever she's told to for the cameras. She's just less photogenic than Vanna. (and, sorry, Vanna, didn't mean to imply you're a whore. You're just doing what you're paid to do. Like Maggie.)

[umtalal]

135. Columnist was paid to back Bush on marriage

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2002160792_gallagher26.html

WASHINGTON — In 2002, syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher repeatedly defended President Bush's push for a $300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.

"The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples" and "educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage," she wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could "carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children."

But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal.

[WI_DEM]

136. just goes to show that the press in this country is bought and paid for

[brainshrub]

137. I can't wait to find out how much Rushbo is getting paid.

How much does it cost to tell people that torture is like fraternity hazing?

[nadinbrzezinski]

139. rushbo has been in their back pocket for years

for both ideological raesons and others... remember the man is very well off (millons), and yuo just don't get that wealthy from only broadcast radio, if you catch my drift

[DemonFighterLives]

164. He gets fifty oxycontins a day

Whether he needs them or not. A couple bottles of ups and downs and whatever else his little non-heart desires.

[antigone382]

138. The "Liberal media" strikes again!

:eyes:

[mountebank]

141. New Yorker ran wonderful article on this cynical marriage program

It was written by Katherine Boo and ran about a year ago. It followed 2 poor, black women near Oklahoma City who attended seminars sponsored by the government. What a waste of money. These women were so optimistic and so willing to listen - but the videos they watched never had any resemblance to their lives.....

Anyway, here's a Q&A with the author of the story about the article. I really suggest reading the story itself, though.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/?030818on_onlineonly

[Ms_Mary]

142. I'm sure Bush will say she knew SHE did the wrong thing too. Not him. nt

[fooj]

143. "...all the King's horses and all the King's men...

couldn't put Humpty together again!"

[bushisanidiot]

146. Ms. Gallagher, Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Send her ass to jail!

fucking nazi freepers!

[mitchum]

148. That's a lot of whoring money for someone as ugly as Gallagher...

way to go, girl!

I have always hated that stupid wretch.

[Joanne98]

151. 20,000 for writing a report! Good grief!!!!!!!!

[vs the introvore]

166. as long as we're quoting charlie brown...

SIGH!

[EVDebs]

155. This could also become a way for an administration to steer CIA domestic $

Operation Mockingbird for years has been funnelling money to pliant reporters

http://www.prisonplanet.com/analysis_louise_01_03_03_mockingbird.html

An administration with excellent ties to an intelligence agency with 'a little to spare' could make excellent use of such 'bribe' money and you wouldn't even have to call it that !

CIA has had domestic operations going on for years...Just ask Bob Woodward sometime !
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/07.03.97/scoop-9727.html

and
http://www.webcom.com/ctka/pr196-woodward.html

If anyone has been on the take for the past thirty or so years to the 'intelligence' community, Woodward's background begs that question for sure. In fact, the whole plausible denial for the President on WMD or no WMD comes straight from Woodward's book-- remember, the CIA director said it was a 'slam dunk'. Actually, Bush and PNAC and Office of Special Plans of DoD were stovepiping that information and the CIA's own personnel (Ray McGovern et al of VIPS veteran intel persons for sanity) will say they didn't believe Saddam had the WMDs !

Let's really look into the media, and update Carl Bernstein's old Rolling Stone article from Oct 1977 "The CIA and the Media" shall we ?

http://www.class.uidaho.edu/mickelsen/Media%20Readings/Berstein%20-%20CIA%20and%20the%20Media.htm

[cinci_democrat]

156. More to the Story

http://www.hrc.org/Template.cfm?Section=Press_Room&CONTENTID=24958&TEMPLATE=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm

[cinci_democrat]

157. More "Pay-to-Sway"

http://mediamatters.org/items/200501260015