Minister Al-X: Now Hiring- Souless Hack Who Will Say Anything For A Buck

Thursday, February 17, 2005

Now Hiring- Souless Hack Who Will Say Anything For A Buck

This is really a heart wrenching story.
Armstrong Williams, the asshole hack who was paid $240,000 to promote the No Child Left Behind Act for the Department of Education last year is having a hard time finding people who are willing to pay him to spout propaganda for the Bush Administration.

In apologizing for blurring the lines between journalism and government work, Mr. Williams says he was not lured into promoting President Bush's policies by either the administration or Ketchum Public Relations, the firm that arranged for him to produce and broadcast advertisements on his syndicated television show. Instead, he says, it was his own idea to seek a contract with the administration.

In an interview after the forum, Mr. Williams said he submitted proposals early in the administration to both the Education Department and the Department of Health and Human Services offering to play a role promoting programs aimed at African-Americans. "Can you imagine being embroiled in a controversy for a program educating children?" he said in the interview.

Mr. Williams said he had been inspired by Tom Joyner, the nationally syndicated radio host who volunteered his broadcast platform to help health officials promote "Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day" (though Mr. Joyner worked free). He said he had viewed the advertising on his own program as both a public service and good business, never imagining it would someday erupt in an episode that has made his name a metaphor for government efforts to pay off journalists.

"I'm no longer Armstrong Williams," he said. "I've become a noun. And in some cases, I've become a commodity."

Here's the dictionary entry:
Armstrong Williams- (N)- A shameless political hack who gets paid to secretly spout partisan propaganda. A souless asshole.

Oh, and here's the latest definition- Someone who blames racism when they are caught clearly breaking ethical standards and possibly laws:

Mr. Williams repeated his apology for his work for the Education Department but expressed bitterness over the criticism he has received since news of it broke. He said he had revised two chapters of his book "The New Racism," to reflect his belief that "the liberal elite despise black conservatives," a factor that he thinks helped fuel the controversy.

"I am a conservative who does not know his place," he said. "If I were white, they wouldn't care."

And here's the really heartbreaking part. Williams is having trouble finding TV stations that will pay him to come on their shows and spout Bush Administration propaganda: