By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles

14 March 2005

The Bush administration has produced look-alike news propaganda clips and then persuaded television stations across the country to air them uncritically and, often, uncut. As many as 20 government departments have produced fake news which stations broadcast as though they had produced the segments themselves, according to The New York Times.

In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is at the centre of a growing controversy over the same thing - using public funds to make short pseudo-journalistic films touting controversial policies and passing them on to local television news stations which have aired them without comment.

Both the Bush and the Schwarzenegger administrations have gone so far as to script introductory lines for the news anchor to read out.

The phenomenon - known to its detractors as "covert propaganda" and to its advocates as putting out video news-releases - is deeply troubling in a country that prides itself on media independence.

The controversy consists of two distinct parts. The first is the questionable legality of the officials' actions, which have come under challenge from congressional and legislative oversight committees. And the second is the questionable ethics of the television news directors who permit the segments to air without balancing comment from critics.

Most of the stations that have used the segments - on subjects as varied as the Iraq war and Governor Schwarzenegger's controversial plans to curtail union power - have been small ones relying on news feeds of all kinds to fill their schedules.

Last month, the investigative arm of Congress, the Government Accountability Office, issued a damning report on the Bush administration's use of the practice, concluding that their clips were intentionally deceptive. "Prepackaged news stories can be utilised without violating the law," wrote US comptroller David Walker, "so long as there is clear disclosure that this material was prepared by the government department".

An initial finding by California's legislative analyst's office last week found no legal basis for the Schwarzenegger administration's video releases. Los Angeles lawmaker Gloria Romero told a state Senate hearing: "This is propaganda, produced at taxpayer expense."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/ame ... ory=619654

-Eva

Just exactly! What's more, Rs do everything at taxpayer's expense. Look at Bush's trips all over the country peddling his Social Security demise. Have you called Social Security lately? You get the pitch on the lines while you are waiting.

Rs believe taxpayer monies are there for their own private party--the heck with anyone else.

Didn't we have some harsh things to say about the USSR when they did things this way?

They are getting more arrogant as each day goes by. They are more (in your face) then they ever have been. Makes one wonder if they even give a damn? They pile up debt like it means nothing cause that is how the usury system runs. I think it will come crashing down one of these days and maybe thats the intention. What would people be willing to do to keep what they have? Seeing they have pulled most all the Gold out of the Country, they'll be nothing to fall back on. What Countries should have been doing all along is printing their own money and not letting the banks do it. I guess that makes the banks - legal counterfeiters. Oh of course we all share some of the blame, because most of us want to live beyond our means. Still, we didn't set it up that way, our great GovernMints and the bankers did. Most all of us are enslaved to debt, tax, interest and / or etc. I say we "should" have been printing our own currency all along, cause we might not be in a such a mess today. I could be wrong as I'm no economist.

"The wages of the average American worker, after inflation and taxes, have decreased 17% since 1973, the only Western industrial nation to so suffer".

-Martin Gross, author of "The Tax Racket: Government Extortion From A to Z"

"If no information or return is filed, [the] Internal Revenue Service cannot assess you".

- Gary Makovski, Special IRS Agent, testifying under oath in US. v. Lloyd

--

Sir...

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There you go with labeling again Mr. Buckshot.

Labeling is not a very good idea. I'd be careful if I were you. This could backfire in your face. You wouldn't want that, now would you?

If I were you, I'd look around further on this Right Wing Conspiracy Stuff before I go shooting my mouth off.

Try this.

They Rule
http://www.theyrule.net/

This is up to date for 2004. Study it. Learn It. Make some notes. It's a who knows who and who sits on what board of directors in Corporate America. If you think that these guys just sit around thinking how much fun it be to play golf together, think again.

And here's another hint. Those really rich business guys, they're not too fond of democratic principles. That just gets in the way of their profit. And that's a small "d" on democratic principles. So don't get all snarly about the Democratic Party. I don't want to make you a Democrat. Because after all, you know from all you've learned from the Republican Party that Democrats are evil and stuff.

And just for laughs do a search on Joseph Coors, John Mellon Scaife and the Unification Church. Do it and see what turns up. These "gentlemen" have a real hard-on for turning America and the world into a corporate playground. They're just a few of the many Mr. Buckshot. These darlings of the Corporate Plutocracy aren't looking out for your interests.

You may be surprised when you find out what role Rev. Moon plays in the "Hard Right". You see Mr. Buckshot, Rev. Moon likes to throw around a lot of money. And it seems that he likes to give a whole bunch of it to Right Wing Causes.

Are you a "Moonie" Mr. Buckshot? Is that the church you go to? Do you think that Rev. Moon is just some harmless wacky crazy Korean religious nut?

The Real American Taliban

Moon's rhetoric has turned stridently anti-American, another problem for the Religious Right and its strongly patriotic positions. On May 1, 1997, Moon told a group of followers that "the country that represents Satan's harvest is America." [ Unification News, June 1997] In other sermons, he has vowed that his victorious movement will "digest" any American who tries to maintain his or her individuality. He especially has criticized American women who must "negate yourself 100 percent" to be a receptacle for the male seed. [For details of Moon's speeches, see The Consortium, July 28, 1997]

Still, despite his controversial remarks, Moon continues to buy friends on the American right -- as well as among African-American religious figures -- by spreading around vast sums of money. The totals are estimated in the billions of dollars, with much of it
targeted on political infrastructure: direct-mail operations, video services for campaign ads, professional operatives and right-wing media outlets.

Through The Washington Times and its affiliated publications -- Insight magazine and The World & I -- Moon has not only showcased conservative opinions, but he has created seemingly legitimate conduits to funnel money to individuals and companies he seeks to influence.

Moon's penetration of conservative ranks has raised red flags among Republicans. In 1983, the GOP's moderate Ripon Society charged that the New Right had entered "an alliance of expediency" with Moon's church. Ripon's chairman, Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, released a study which alleged that the College Republican National Committee "solicited and received" money from Moon's Unification Church in 1981. The study also accused Reed Irvine's Accuracy in Media of benefitting from low-cost or volunteer workers supplied by Moon.

Leach said the Unification Church has "infiltrated the New Right and the party it [the New Right] wants to control, the Republican Party, and infiltrated the media as well." Leach's news conference was broken up when then-college GOP leader Grover Norquist accused Leach of lying. (Norquist is now head of Americans for Tax Reform and a prominent ally of House Speaker Newt Gingrich.)

For its part, The Washington Times dismissed Leach's charges as "flummeries" and mocked the Ripon Society as a "discredited and insignificant left-wing offshoot of the Republican Party." [WP, Jan. 6, 1983]

Despite periodic fretting over Moon's influence, conservatives continued to accept his deep-pocket assistance. When President Reagan and Oliver North were scratching for support for the Nicaraguan contras, The Washington Times established a contra fund-raising operation. Moon's international group, CAUSA, also dispatched operatives to Central America to assist the contras.

By the mid-1980s, Moon's Unification Church had carved out a niche as an acceptable part of the American right. In one speech to his followers, Moon boasted that "without knowing it, even President Reagan is being guided by Father [Moon]."

Yet, Moon also made clear that his longer-range goal was the destruction of the U.S. Constitution and America's democratic form of government. "History will make the position of Reverend Moon clear, and his enemies, the American population and government will bow down to him," Moon said, speaking of himself in the third person. "That is Father's tactic, the natural subjugation of the American government and population."

As Andrew Ferguson wrote in the right-wing American Spectator, Moon's church attracted U.S. conservatives by advocating a muscular anti-communism. "There is little else in Unificationism that American conservatives will find compelling," Ferguson noted -- except, of course, the money. "They're the best in town as far as putting their money with their mouth is," one Washington-based conservative told Ferguson. [AS, Sept. 1987]

Iran-contra Wars Though Moon's money sources remained shrouded in secrecy, his cash gave the right an important edge in attacking its enemies and defending its friends. After the Iran-contra scandal exploded in 1986, The Washington Times and other Moon operations battled aggressively to protect Reagan's White House and Oliver North. Godwin, the link between Falwell's Moral Majority and Moon's Washington Times, raised funds for North through a group called the Interamerican Partnership, which was a fore-runner to North's own Freedom Alliance. [ Common Cause Magazine, Fall 1993]

Another Moon-connected group, the American Freedom Coalition, also went to bat for North According to Andrew Leigh, who worked for a Moon front called Global Image Associates, AFC Broadcast a pro-North video, "Ollie North: Fight for Freedom," more than 600 times on more than 100 TV stations. Leigh quoted one AFC official as saying that AFC received $5 million to $6 million from business interests associated with Moon. AFC also bragged that it helped put George Bush into the White House in 1988 by distributing 30 million pieces of political literature. [WP, Oct. 15, 1989]

Link

How many people are aware of Moon at all, let alone the degree he is involved in our politics? I am surrounded by Republicans here and none of them seem to have ever heard of him.

Wouldn't it be interesting if they actually could get a glimpse of this man, his agenda, and how much success he has had implementing it...

Many people only know Rev. Moon from his Moonie weddings. Very few realize that he is a principle monetary supporter of the Republican party. You will never find a Republican who will talk about him. The elitist Republican leadership, who are funded by Rev. Moon know to keep his existance quiet. And the dumbshit rank and file Republican proletariat are happy to be kept in the dark on such matters by the leaders they worship.

Notice we haven't heard from buckshot on this subject. As a good Republican sheep, he knows better than to get involved in the seamy underside of the GOP.