The Armstrong Williams thing has

[ashling]

probably gotten at least 75% of the press to asking:

"Does this mean I have to give the money back?

Who will pay for Rush's drugs?

For OReilly's porn?

For Colmes' milquetoast?

[tjdee]

1. WHO ELSE. That's what a responsible press would be asking.

I'm angry that I've not heard this in the media. Seems the logical question--

Is Armstrong Williams the only journalist the Bushies would pay?
A mediocre writer with a handful of outlets? Really?

Makes you wonder why they reported it in the first place.

WHO ELSE. That's all I want to know.

[babylonsister]

2. I heard Friday night the press is

Very Interested in pursuing this story and perhaps uncovering more instances of unethical, and probably criminal, activities by *co. Weekends are slow/no news, but I'm hoping the sh*t hits the fan in the ensuing weeks.

Edit for spelling.

[hilster]

3. Who else

is indeed what everyone should be asking right now.

[Shopaholic]

4. They don't want to investigate this story because they just don't

want to know. They know, as we do, that the list is no doubt very long and very disturbing!

[The empressof all]

17. I think they will pursue this

After all it's all about them and we all know that's really all that is important. (sarcasm off)

[The empressof all]

18. dupe nt

[nostamj]

5. I don't care about NCLB as much

as I care about WHO WAS ON THE PAYROLL to push the WMD and Saddam/9-11 ties.

THAT is a much bigger crime.

[tjdee]

7. Me too. I don't care about NCLB at all.

The mind naturally progresses to "Who else is being paid" and "What were they paid about?"

Unless you are actually a reporter, in which case your mind goes "duhhhhh.....read telemprompter.....should I change my name to Wolf or Stone...should I buy a pair of Manolos or save for that trip to the Hamptons...duhhh...."

[nostamj]

8. yes. it's utterly NAIVE to accept that Williams was the only one...

i'd put $ on Novak being on the list (did CNN see this coming and that's a factor in shutting down Crossfire?). he's greedy and has no ethics at all.

[tjdee]

11. I'm also interested in how many minorities, women...

Apparently they wanted to make inroads with black people, so I'm curious whether any other prominent blacks were approached (so many of them aren't Republicans though!).

I want this thing to crack right open.

You're right about Novak, he was so soft on Armstrong--it was like they were just talking about it because they had to, not like they were getting any real answers. He's probably raking it in too.

[LWolf]

14. I would say that differently.

I would say that this particular scandal should focus people on propaganda and media manipulation, and we should be looking for more evidence of many other examples, because we know they are out there. This is not the first example of tax $$ going on pro-NCLB propaganda, and I'm sure NCLB is just the tip of the propaganda iceberg.

I wouldn't say I don't care about NCLB at all. If you care about the future of America, I hope you care about NCLB.

You don't like the direction we're going now?

Just wait. Just wait a generation. When the children who have been indoctrinated since kindergarten to listen and bubble where they're told, and spoon-fed an anti-thinking, anti-individual, pro-groupthink curriculum get to the voting booths.

I hope you care about NCLB.

[nostamj]

15. i think i was clear

I don't care about NCLB as much as I care about the Iraq deceptions.

as an uncle to 9 grade-school age kids, I'm very concerned about the NCLB lies.

[LWolf]

26. You are correct, of course.

It is difficult, being an elementary school teacher, for me to say that I don't care about NCLB as much as another issue; that's the issue I grapple with every day. But NCLB is simply a tentacle; it's not the head of the monster.

The head of this monster is the control of public discourse through control of MSM. And they've demonstrated that they intend to control the discourse by any and all means at their disposal.

If there is one place to start, it's mainstream media. We need to cut off the head of this monster, and let the tentacles follow. We need to revisit the fairness doctrine NOW. And we need to find, bring to light, and prosecute all the incidents in which tax dollars were spent to promote ideological propaganda.

If the public conversation about NCLB was ever honest or complete, it would go down in flames.

If the public conversation about candidates, campaigns, and election procedures were honest or complete, GWB would never have served one term.

[tjdee]

16. You're right--

I should have said it differently. I meant that focusing on NCLB, therefore focusing on the Department of Education, would be bad because there are doubtless other areas of this government that are paying people off.

I can see how that was unclear, as I said something completely different. :crazy:

[LWolf]

27. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I think many progressive ships have sunk themselves running into obstacles that they couldn't see or bring to light.

Public education is just one sinking ship. We can find plenty more, and I'll bet you'll find the same damned iceberg underneath them all. If they can't do it honestly, they'll find another way. As long as they control the dialogue, they control the outcomes.

I hope there will be plenty of people out there digging this stuff up.

[TrustingDog]

19. ... and when are you guys getting your money back?

that's another question.

[SmokingJacket]

6. They sacrificed Williams -- threw him to the dogs

The story was going to come out, so they got Williams to take the brunt.

Soon, it'll be apparent JUST HOW MANY journalists are getting their cut.

By that time, they hope Americans will be bored with the story and will accept it as business as usual.

Just watch!

[Merlot]

12. Most people won't even understand why it's wrong

And let's get those journalists investigating each other. That'll be fun to watch.

Don't hold your breath, Valerie.

[pretzel4gore]

24. geewill got money from 'lord' crossharbour (lol) ie conrad black!

conrad's a righteous rich kid's rich kid's rich kid (his grandpa was millionaire) who overcame socialism and grasping poor folk to become very rich ie houses on 4 continents, toilet paper is $100 US bills fashioned into rolls etc ...poor george will aka gee was embarassed but he's such a nazipoo icon nothing really affect the traitor pig :( )

[Chelsea Patriot]

9. Who will pay for Adam Nagourney's Black Party tickets?

[tridim]

10. Good call on Colmes

It didn't occur to me, but of course they pay off Colmes to stand down. He's like the "Liberals" who call into Rush's show.

[ashling]

25. wondered if anybody would notice that

thanks for paying attention to my thinly veiled sarcasm :)

[Botany]

13. Tip of the Iceberg

Remember this administration is from the corporate world that thrives on
marketing and getting their message out into the media from numerous sources.

Karl Rove uses Creative Response Concepts as one of his outlets.

http://www.crc4pr.com/

They get the message out that is wanted. They did the swift boat stuff and got
people talking about Dan Rather instead of if bush showed up for his military
duty. Look at their client list. Also as a proud member of "The Boxer Rebellion"
I think it is my duty to make sure everybody gets to find out about these scum. They
also hire many former media people.

Too bad they took down their external e mail link. They took it down when I sent e mails asking about the swift boat shits.

Anybody going to D.C. to protest the Re kinging bush should visit their offices and PNAC offices.

1150 17th St.
Suite 510
Washington D.C.
202-293-4983

Take the fight to the bastards.

[RetroLounge]

20. I think Ann Coulter is being paid by the NeoCons

She gets 10cc's worth of protein for every time she visits the news.

RL

[pretzel4gore]

22. table dancer coulter gets paid

to shake her bootie! :crazy:

[tsuki]

23. Yes, by Rupert Murdock.

And how did the Australian Rupert Murdock get the okay to buy up so much of the US media?

http://www.realchange.org/gingrich.htm#book

[Eric J in MN]

21. A lot of commentators on tv get more than $240,000 from General Electric,

which is also a contractor with the Bush Admin.

General Electric owns NBC, CNBC, and MSNBC.

Regarding Armstrong Williams, the public relations firm Ketchum paid him $240,000 it got frm the Education Dept.

Is there a big differerence here?

Are Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann (whom I like), and Joe Scarborough less beholden to the Bush Admin. than Armstrong Williams?

[tishaLA]

28. Andrea Mitchell said on TV this morning that it was "money laundering"

I know she's a presstitute, but at least she has the ethic/balls to call it what it is. They laundered the money to make it harder to trace--and apparently there are investigations going on now about who else is sucking government dick for big bucks.