T U E S D A Y , A P R I L 1 9 , 2 0 0 5Bush During Armstrong Deception Of Public:He Was Either Lying Or Cluelessby Michael in New York on 4/19/2005 01:16:00 AMUSA Today headlines its story on the Education Department'sinvestigation of itself with the innocuous: "Report: No ethicsbreach in Education Dept."Here's a better headline: Bush Lied To America Or wasHopelessly Out of the Loop.Yes, the report makes clear that Bush was wrong when he firstcommented on the scandal of the Education Dept. payingcommentator Armstrong Williams $240,000 to plug its No ChildLeft Behind.</p><p> At the time, Bush said, "We didn't know about thisin the White House."But this initial report makes clear that David Dunn, "a specialassistant to President Bush" took part in AT LEAST FOURCONVERSATIONS about the Williams contract with EducationDept. officials.</p><p> Not only that, during at least two of them theofficials expressed concern about the arrangement.</p><p> Naturally,the White House had refused to let the investigators speak toDunn directly about what he did at the time as a presidentialpolicy adviser, saying it lacked the authority to interview WhiteHouse staffers.</p><p> Two more investigations of this ethical breachare underway.And don't believe Williams' lie that he was already a big fan ofNCLB.</p><p> He conceded in an interview with USA Today that NOTONE of 194 newspaper columns he wrote in nearly three yearsmentioned it, but as soon as the money started flowing hewrote about it in glowing terms five times.By the way, the report said there was no technical violation butthat the contract smacked of "bad management" and "poorjudgment."That's one way to phrase manipulating the media todeceive the American people, but I can think of harsher termsto use.</p><p> Add New CommentYou are commenting as a Guest.</p><p> You may select one to log into: HuffPost PoliticsJames Crowley, Policeman Who Arrested Gates,Won't Apologize - NATICK, Mass. — A white policesergeant accused of racism after he arrestedrenowned black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at hishome insisted Wednesday...5 minutes ago Daily KosIOKIYAPI (It's OK If You're A Private Insurer) -Here's William Kristol revealing the *horrors*hidden within the health care bill as it emergedfrom the HELP committee...</p><p> For Kennedy and hisco-autho...14 minutes ago Ben SmithObama: Cambridge police acted 'stupidly' - Afterspending most of an hour patiently reiterating hisarguments for changing the health insurancesystem, President Barack Obama turned his press57 minutes ago Crooks and LiarsGlenn Beck Defends His Radio Show Freakout: ItWas Just Common Sense - You can view this videoright here by getting the latest version of FlashPlayer! 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