I weighed in today in a longer-than-usual ?Daily Journal? over at Carolina Journal Online about the controversy surrounding conservative commentator Armstrong Williams receiving tax dollars from the U.S. Department of Education to promote the Bush administration?s ?No Child Left Behind? policy. As I discussed in part how think tanks such as JLF approach the issue of ethics and funding, Locker Roomies might find it particularly interesting.
Also, here are some other reactions from the blogosphere:
? Jeff Jarvis: ?The bottom line: Don’t pull an Armstrong. Once you sell your credibility, you can’t buy it back. There’s a no-refund policy on trust.?
? Talking Points Memo: ?Now that Armstrong Williams has recognized that his acceptance of a quarter million dollars to shill for the No Child Left Behind act was an instance of bad judgment on his part, it is presumably only a matter of time till he mounts the pulpit of Larry King Live and announces his decision to undergo a full-fledged program of journalistic ethics recovery. . .?
? Jon Henke: ?If nobody else has called for it, let me be the first: I want to see jail-time, and/or substantive fines against all parties. And if that applies to each instance of payola….well, that’d be fine, too.?
? La Shawn Barber: ?Reinforcing the black-conservatives-are-sellouts stereotype, Williams has just handed to liberals, on a plate made of pure gold served by a well-dressed butler in a most tastefully decorated setting, enough fodder to keep them gobbling for months to come. In the aftermath of John Kerry?s demoralizing defeat in a failed bid to lead the free world, liberals have found the scandal they?ve been searching for. Thanks, Mr. Williams.?
