TV Host Says U.S. Paid Him to Back Policy

NYT: TV Host Says U.S. Paid Him to Back Policy: "Armstrong Williams, a prominent conservative commentator who was a protégé of Senator Strom Thurmond and Justice Clarence Thomas of the Supreme Court, acknowledged yesterday that he was paid $240,000 by the Department of Education to promote its initiatives on his syndicated television program and to other African-Americans in the news media."

Nancy Pelosi, et. al. sent a letter to the preznint complaining about the propaganda and demanding that the president renounce its use:

Covert propaganda to influence public opinion is unethical and dangerous. It violates fundamental principles of open government and it distorts the free press and the public's right to know. And it is illegal. GAO found that both sets of video news releases violated prohibitions against publicity and propaganda because they did not identify the federal government as the source of the fabricated news reports.

We are concerned that these three incidents, while serious and disturbing on their own, may not be isolated incidents but rather a deliberate pattern of behavior by your Administration to deceive the public and the media in an effort to further your policy objectives.

We ask you to publicly renounce the use of covert propaganda to influence public opinion. And in furtherance of official congressional oversight, we request that you direct all department and agency heads to immediately provide to us all past and ongoing efforts to engage in covert propaganda, whether through contracts with commentators, the distribution of video news releases, or other means.

I'm glad they sent the letter, but this is a President whose nominee for AG only just this week denounced torture (and not very enthusiastically, at that). I don't think he's gonna come out against propaganda anytime soon. "Just letting the American people know what their government is doin' for 'em. Nuthin' wrong with that. They got a $1000 tax credit too, you know."