February 10, 2005
GOP: The 'P' is for 'Propaganda'
On the heels of revelations that the White House paid several conservative "journalists" to tout GOP talking points in their columns, now we discover that an even less reputable reporter—someone not actually a reporter at all and who uses a pseudonym—received regular access to White House press conferences (if such access can be called "regular" considering the ridiculous infrequency of press conferences) to lob soft-ball questions at the president. Doubtless McClellan will claim no knowledge on his or the president's part in this though Bush did call on this fraud. After all, the White House is a big bureaucracy. They can't be expected to know everything that goes on. Of course, that's despite the administration's famous message discipline and top-down control. If this breaks into a large enough scandal (which I'd be surprised to see; few people seem too concerned about the paid-for journalists) I'm confident an appropriate scapegoat will be found. It's quite disgusting. Obviously the administration realizes that its message cannot withstand honest scrutiny and open debate, so they resort to tactics reminscent of the Politburo. Bush and his cronies know no shame.