Glenn. You really should read the fourth reader comment to Brian William's blog post by "Karen C. Auburn Georgia" It's too much.

The comment exposes that Williams' claim that Downing and McCaffrey were "warriors-turned-analysts, not lobbyists or politicians" is quite literally false. The comment quotes the Nation as saying "McCaffrey and his NBC colleague Col. Wayne Downing, who reports nightly from Kuwait, are both on the advisory board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a Washington-based lobbying group formed last October to bolster public support for a war."

At one point Williams says,"at no time did our analysts, on my watch or to my knowledge, attempt to push a rosy Pentagon agenda before our viewers. I think they are better men than that, and I believe our news division is better than that." In light of the article in the Nation dated April 2003, it seems Williams can hardly claim that he didn't know that Downing and McCaffrey were on the board of a pro-war lobbying group. Given their very real interest in presenting a pro-war point of view, how can Williams be so sure that those "analysts" did not present a "rosy" Pentagon agenda. And if he did know their interest, shouldn't NBC have disclosed it?

And finally and most bizzare of all, how can Williams have written that blog post today, after all that's come out in the Times and previously in the Nation and not at least mention that Downing and McCafferey were on the board of this pro war lobby group. I mean really. If he's going to defend the journalistic integrity of the coverage you would think he would have the courage to concede and address those ugly looking facts rather than ignore them entirely.

FYI... cinnamon rolls are actually popular in some PA diners. Of course, they slice them open and put them on the grill first... with some "butter." ;~)

Aren't most of them manufactured in China?

*** 1 ***

There's the "Anti-Lobbying Act" (18 U.S. Code Sec. 1913).

As of yet, in the decades since that law was enacted, no Administration has ever prosecuted itself under the Anti-Lobbying Act.

But that doesn't mean that law has had no effect -- all federal agencies have guidelines and rules to avoid breaking that law, and those guidelines and rules do have *some* effect.

*** 2 ***

Another law is the Smith-Mundt Act (22 USC 1461), which prohibits domestic distribution of U.S. government-produced information and/or propaganda which is targeted at foreigners.

But does this apply if the Pengagon was targeting only the USA?

*** 3 ***

The annual appropriations bills, which authorize funding of U.S. government agencies, generally contain anti-propaganda restrictions. For instance, from a GAO decision in 2004:

http://gao.gov/decisions/appro/302710.htm

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’s (CMS) use of appropriated funds to pay for the production and distribution of story packages that were not attributed to CMS violated the restriction on using appropriated funds for publicity or propaganda purposes in the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution of 2003, Pub. L. No. 108-7, Div. J, Tit. VI, § 626, 117 Stat. 11, 470 (2003).
http://gao.gov/decisions/appro/302710.htm

So, if a retired general is a "message multiplier" then might he also be, for legal purposes, an "unattributed story package"?

*** 4 ***

And there's the issue of whether any contracts were awarded - - or denied - - based not on proper contracting criteris but instead based on good performances or bad performances by the "military analysts".

Remember, according the NYTimes story, the "analysts" were getting briefed not only by intelligence specialists and public information specialists, but also by contracting specialists, and it's hard to imagine a legitimate reason for that.

*** 5 ***

And I'm sure there are other legal issues.

Noonan:But has he ever gotten misty-eyed over . . . the Wright Brothers and what kind of country allowed them to go off on their own and change everything? How about D-Day, or George Washington, or Henry Ford, or the losers and brigands who flocked to Sutter's Mill, who pushed their way west because there was gold in them thar hills? There's gold in that history.

These names and images really mean nothing to Noonan other than to act as sound bytes of wholesomeness.

-- RKent

It's worse than that, really. What is there to get "misty-eyed about thieves and robbers flocking to Sutter's mill to ply their thief and robber trades? Plus, also people who had already chased and caught the so called American dream by becoming "successful" in occupation, marriage and what have you desperately tossed it all away to "flock" to Sutter's Mill for the "gold in them thar hills". That's a tragedy, not something to get misty-eyed over.

Thanks for the data, I appreciate that. Most of what I found seemed to be with respect to targeting foreigners. These seem a little bit of a stretch. If there's not something stronger, perhaps there should be.

Courtesy of a poster to Williams' "blog":

*

You didn't know? It was reported five years ago.

"TV's Conflicted Experts"

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20030421/interns

From The Nation, April 21, 2003:

McCaffrey and his NBC colleague Col. Wayne Downing, who reports nightly from Kuwait, are both on the advisory board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a Washington-based lobbying group formed last October to bolster public support for a war. Its stated mission is to "engage in educational advocacy efforts to mobilize US and international support for policies aimed at ending the aggression of Saddam Hussein," and among its targets are the US and European media. The group is chaired by Bruce Jackson, former vice president of defense giant Lockheed Martin (manufacturer of the F-117 Nighthawk, the F-16 Fighting Falcon and other aircraft in use in Iraq), and includes such neocon luminaries as former Defense Policy Board chair Richard Perle. Downing has also served as an unpaid lobbyist and adviser to the Iraqi National Congress, an Administration-backed (and bankrolled) opposition group that stands to profit from regime change in Iraq.

I can't help but wonder how Noonan or Williams would respond if this same piece were altered and the name Barak Obama replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I'd love to see any reporter ask Schwarzenegger about the fullness of his patriotism.