One of the propaganda participants from Iraq wasn't a soldier afterall

[Oilwellian]

Remember that phony media event the Pentagon staged Thursday, where Bush supposedly asked questions and solicited answers from our soldiers in Iraq? Well, aside from the AP reporting that the questions and answers were scripted in advance, it also turns out that one of the "soldiers" that Bush questioned was a military public affairs staffer, and not a combat soldier. Who was it? Well, it was our friend Corine Lombardo, who we commented on Thursday for her overly scripted and cue-carded answer to one of Bush's less-than-spontaneous questions.



On a similar note, from the same blog, it notes Armstrong Williams (another Bush flak) may be investigated by DoJ:

Investigators at the Education Department have contacted the U.S. attorney's office regarding the Bush administration's hiring of commentator Armstrong Williams to promote its agenda.

The action was disclosed by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who has pressed for a criminal fraud investigation focused on questions about whether Williams actually performed the work cited in his monthly reports to the Education Department.

The Government Accountability Office has concluded that the Education Department engaged in illegal "covert propaganda" by hiring Williams to promote the No Child Left Behind Act without requiring him to disclose that he was being paid. The Education Department's inspector general has also reviewed the Williams deal, which was part of a broader contract that the education agency had with Ketchum, a public relations firm.

Now the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia is investigating whether Williams accepted public money without performing his required duties, said Dan Katz, chief counsel for Lautenberg. The attorney's office has a range of potential remedies, from suing to recover the money to possible criminal charges, Katz said.

"The inspector general wouldn't refer this to the U.S. attorney unless there was evidence of misconduct that requires further investigating," Katz said.

Channing Phillips, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Kenneth Wainstein, confirmed that his office is reviewing the matter. Phillips declined to say whether prosecutors have begun a criminal investigation.


http://www.theleftcoaster.com/

[natrat]

1. another read:

http://mediacitizen.blogspot.com/2005/10/media-no-longer-taking-flak.html

[Oilwellian]

2. Great link...thanks

Intrepid MediaCitizen reader "lebkuchen" Googled the ten soldiers who went before Bush and the cameras on Thursday and found another GI who didn't pass the smell test.

I've dug further into the history of First Lieutenant Gregg Murphy of the 278th Regimental Combat Team and found that there's more to Murphy than meets the lens. His pro-Bush rhetoric is sprinkled throughout the media in articles dating back to 2003.

Do we see a pattern emerging?

[opihimoimoi]

3. Brown Shirt Special Ops guys.....focusing on PsyOps with a Mission

[pretzel4gore]

4. aye, and publicly funded while firezone units do w/out!

even freepers ought to be enraged at the bushevik sense of priorities, but that's saying freepers work using logic (and not bush nonsense)

[opihimoimoi]

6. A clear violation of Morals...Ya don't use Gubermint monies to prop

BushCo in an underhanded way....Lie Cheat Steal and FOOL/Scam/Con...

and the Pubs supposed have Morals?

[natrat]

7. it's arguable that a good portion of what they do is not legal

[progressivebydesign]

5. Murphy sounds familiar. Is he one one of those "turf" writers?

I remember reading some things, you know those cut and paste letters from Iraq sent to all newspapers with local names attached? Was Murphy involved in that? Was the the fellow from Washington State? Because there was an article yesterday in the Seattle news from one of the guys INSISTING that this was not staged and what at absolute HONOR it was to talk to Bush.. etc.