"President Bush said on Wednesday that the U.S. government's practice of sending packaged news stories to local television stations was legal and he had no plans to cease it.
His defense of the packages, which are designed to look like television news segments, came after they were deemed a form of covert propaganda by the Government Accountability Office watchdog agency.
GAO, an arm of Congress, said this ran counter to appropriation laws and was a misuse of federal funds.
But Bush cited a Justice Department opinion that disagreed with the GAO.
'There is a Justice Department opinion that says these -- these pieces -- are within the law, so long as they're based upon facts, not advocacy,' the president told a news conference."
Sure thing boss. Of course there was no advocacy involved, and anyone with any sense should immediately realize that you would never spend taxpayer money on fake newscasts for no reason whatsoever. I mean, we're running a large deficit here. To squander our very limited funds on subtle manipulations would be lunacy exemplified for a great and noble democracy such as ourselves. We are merely disseminating the truth for the sake of itself. That's just the kind of people we are, and it's worth every penny.
From Washington, I'm Damien Faux.
p.s. Because of recent events I must divulge, in the interest of full-disclosure, that though the use of 'we' may have given it away, this piece was paid for by the Bush administration. They approached me with $20 and a rather unofficial looking 'document' promising not to draft me, which was a bit of a slight considering Armstrong Williams got $240,000, but I had to recognize the lesser market-value of my own soul and get while it could be gotten.
Hey Mom! I turned a profit!!! *glows with a combination of pride and prejudice*
:: Damien 3/16/2005 [+] ::
