Propaganda // Current TV

Thousands of Iraqis take to the streets to oppose occupation

It must have been frightening to stand and protest the continued occupation with armed... more

PoliticalGeek
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3 years ago
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24 comments

McClellan: ‘I’d be glad’ to testify about Bush White House

"Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Friday he would be willing to comply with a rumored congressional subpoena to discuss the administration’s handling of pre-war intelligence, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer he’d be “glad to share my views” if asked to testify.

Facing a firestorm over his book, McClellan also confirmed reports that he had apologized to Richard Clarke for questioning his honesty after the former counterterrorism official published his own book critical of the White House.

“That was part of our talking points at the time. I didn’t even read the book,” McClellan admitted Friday. “…And I think you’re seeing the same thing happening now at this White House, that information – or rather, that people are saying things about my motivations and about me in terms of this book, and they haven’t even had a chance to read the book, or haven’t taken the opportunity to read the book.

“I think that anyone who is objective who reads the book will see that it was a very tough process to come to these conclusions. It wasn’t easy to write these things.”

Former colleagues and top Republicans have been blasting McClellan since his book was released earlier this week. On Friday, Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole – who said he had not read the new book – called McClellan a “miserable creature” in a scathing e-mail that quickly became public.

McClellan told CNN he did not believe he needed to apologize for misleading the public as he now concedes he did. “I have come to terms with it, and realized that some of what I said was badly misguided,” he said Friday. “There's things we did right, and there's things we did wrong. The things that we did wrong overshadowed so much of what we did right. … and I think the American people see through what I have been saying the last few days, that I do regret that I didn't realize some of the things then that I do now.”

He also said he did not believe he needed to apologize to President Bush, and did not think the president would be reading his book, or talking with him about what he had written. "I don't expect that, at least not any time soon," he said.

"I don't need to ask for any forgiveness from him because my comments are sincere and honest … it was tough getting to the conclusions I drew, but they were absolutely the truth from my perspective"."

CNN Associate Political Editor Rebecca Sinderbrand"Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Friday he would be... more

beedee
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3 years ago
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22 comments

US troops trying to convert Iraqis to Christianity

"At the western entrance to the Iraqi city of Fallujah Tuesday, Muamar Anad... more

thedismembermentplan
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3 years ago
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81 comments

CNN/MSNBC reporter: Corporate executives forced pro-Bush, pro-war narrative

This kind of crap is how we got to this point, folks. Via Glenn Greenwald at... more

beedee
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4 years ago
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35 comments

Video: 'Spin' ---T.V. Footage you were never supposed to see

Artist Brian Springer spent a year scouring the airwaves with a satellite dish... more

Amber_LaStrega
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3 years ago
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30 comments

No kidding! Climate change spreads to Jupiter, Mars

Does Al Gore know about this? While the former vice president is leading the charge... more

poohkits
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4 years ago
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37 comments

Veto the FCC

Please help stop big media consolidation. It's already WAY out of control.... more

onechance
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4 years ago
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9 comments

Iron Man -- the new Uncle Sam

Yes, the movie is entertaining but it's important to consider its politics too.

BurningBush
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4 years ago
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3 comments

House Votes to Ban Propaganda

After years of propaganda under the Pentagon and the Bush executive branch, the House... more

BurningBush
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4 years ago
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1 comment

Study finds Pentagon benefited from U.S. media ‘embed’ program in Iraq

By Ben on May 18th, 2008 Think Progress Study finds Pentagon benefited from U.S.... more

Conniepae
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4 years ago
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3 comments

MoD covered up Hercules bombing

The full truth about the destruction of an RAF Hercules aircraft was covered up by the... more

derk
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4 years ago
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MoD 'covered up' Hercules bombing

In February of last year we learned that the RAF Hercules had been involved in... more

phillyharper
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4 years ago
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4 comments

Heartland takes their skepticism north of the border

Who could blame them if they sent the Mounties to the border? CMD reported... more

Conniepae
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4 years ago
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Famed War Reporter Calls Pentagon/Media 'Propaganda' Program Illegal

It will take years for the Department of Justice to decide if the 'Propaganda' Program was illegal. We as Americans can decide today -- IT WAS SHAMEFUL! We need to hold them accountable and make them feel shame for their actions! SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!

Famed War Reporter Calls Pentagon/Media 'Propaganda' Program Illegal
A Pentagon spokesman, in response to the "media generals" revelations said this week that Donald Rumsfeld had reached out to critics as well, citing Joe Galloway one. Here Galloway responds.

By Joseph L. Galloway

(May 15, 2008) -- Once upon a time, it was widely believed that one of the greatest sins the U.S. government or its temporary political masters could commit was to turn a propaganda machine loose on the American people.

Congress viewed this so seriously that every appropriations bill passed since 1951 has contained language that says no public money "shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States" without the lawmakers' prior approval.

The Bush administration has been caught violating the propaganda ban before, notably in 2005 in the case of radio host Armstrong Williams, who was paid to endorse President Bush's No Child Left Behind law.

Particularly abhorrent to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which oversees compliance with the ban, is an agency's use of "covert propaganda" or "covert attempts to mold opinion through the undisclosed use of third parties."

This is why alarm bells should be ringing all over Washington about The New York Times' disclosure that then-Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld encouraged a secret Pentagon program to care for and spoon-feed more than 50 retired senior military officers whom the administration deemed reliable friends who could be counted on "to carry our water" on the television and cable networks.

Feeding the military analysts "key and valuable information" in secret briefings by Pentagon and White House officials, the idea went, would make them the go-to guys for the networks and encourage the networks to "weed out the less reliably friendly analysts . . . ."

This 2005 memorandum, addressed to then Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Larry DiRita, added: "This trusted core group will be more than willing to work closely with us because we are their bread and butter."

Asked about the case of Col. Bill Cowan, who says he was cut off from the briefings for criticizing the war effort, DiRita told Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com: "I don't know anything. I saw that in the story. I've heard other assertions to that effect. It was certainly not the intent."
It will take years for the Department of Justice to decide if the... more