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Friday, January 28, 2005

And A Two-fer Hypocrite Makes Three
Posted by Jill | 7:03 AM

So as B@B's wingnut cybertrolls, having been unsuccessful in somehow tarring Your Humble Blogger as possibly on the take from liberal groups (which she isn't), they have now moved on to casting aspersions on the relatively commonplace practice of posting a "tip jar" and a link to my Amazon.com wish list, as if progressive interest groups are lining up to attempt to bribe me to regurgitate their views the way the Administration is bribing right-wing journalists to recite their Talking Points of the Day.

If that ain't the politics of desperation, I don't know what is. Yes, in the interest of Full Disclosure, I can admit that my sister sent me a copy of Kitty Kelley's book on the Bush family from the wish list, but that's about the extent of the "gifts" I've taken. And last time I looked, receiving a book as a holiday gift from a family member was still allowed, even for progressives living in the Bush 43 Reich.

But meanwhile, while the insignificant are bashing the insignificant, making preposterous analogies between the Administration bribing journalists to spout the Official Party Line and a blogger posting a tip jar and wish list, in their ever-more-difficult-but ever-more-dogged effort to prop up their ever-more-flawed political messiah, a third so-called "journalist" has been found to be taking cash from the Administration. I haven't blogged on the addition of Maggie Gallagher to the list, because others have already covered it quite nicely, thank you very much. But while each discovery seems to involve less money, indicating that Armstrong Williams is still the champ in this particular ideological lottery, this latest one is particularly satisfying, ocurring as it does at the corner of No Ethics Street and Hypocritical Religion Avenue (cf: Rising Hegemon):

One day after President Bush ordered his Cabinet secretaries to stop hiring commentators to help promote administration initiatives, and one day after the second high-profile conservative pundit was found to be on the federal payroll, a third embarrassing hire has emerged. Salon has confirmed that Michael McManus, a marriage advocate whose syndicated column, "Ethics & Religion," appears in 50 newspapers, was hired as a subcontractor by the Department of Health and Human Services to foster a Bush-approved marriage initiative. McManus championed the plan in his columns without disclosing to readers he was being paid to help it succeed.

Responding to the latest revelation, Dr. Wade Horn, assistant secretary for children and families at HHS, announced Thursday that HHS would institute a new policy that forbids the agency from hiring any outside expert or consultant who has any working affiliation with the media. "I needed to draw this bright line," Horn tells Salon. "The policy is being implemented and we're moving forward."

[snip]

Horn says McManus, who could not be reached for comment, was paid approximately $10,000 for his work as a subcontractor to the Lewin Group, a health care consultancy hired by HHS to implement the Community Healthy Marriage Initiative, which encourages communities to combat divorce through education and counseling. McManus provided training during two-day conferences in Chattanooga, Tenn., and also made presentations at HHS-sponsored conferences. His syndicated column has appeared in such papers as the Washington Times, the Dallas Morning News and the Charlotte Observer.

Horn, who has known McManus for years, says he first learned about the payment on Thursday. In the wake of the Gallagher story, he asked his staff to review all outside contracts and determine if there were any other columnists being paid by HHS. They informed him about McManus. Horn says the review for similar contracts continues.

Horn insists that HHS was not paying Gallagher and McManus to write about Bush administration initiatives but for their expertise as marriage advocates. "We live in a complicated world and people wear many different hats," he says. "People who have expertise might also be writing columns. The line has become increasingly blurred between who's a member of the media and who is not. Thirty years ago if you were a columnist, then you were a full-time employee of a newspaper. Columnists today are different."

The problem springs from the failure of both Gallagher and McManus to disclose their government payments when writing about the Bush proposals. But one HHS critic says another dynamic has led to the controversy, and a blurring of ethical and journalistic lines: Horn and HHS are hiring advocates -- not scholars -- from the pro-marriage movement. "They're ideological sympathizers who propagandize," says Tim Casey, attorney for Legal Momentum, a women's rights organization. He describes McManus as being a member of the "extreme religious right."

Horn denies the charge: "It's not true that we have just been selectively working with conservatives." According to news accounts, the administration seeks to spend $1.5 billion promoting marriage through marriage-enrichment courses, counseling and public-awareness campaigns.


If it were Bill Clinton trying to finesse this by stating that McManus was paid for his position as a marriage advocate, rather than for his syndicated column, the hue and cry among the wingnuts would be heard from here to Saturn. If McManus wasn't reaching an audience of some significant size, why would the Administration be paying him?

"Dr." Greg Cynaumon, the ex-cop with the phony psychology degree from the mail-order university who currently shills for (and owns a piece of) Corti-Slim also markets himself as a marriage therapist. I wonder when the Bushistas are going to start to pay him? God knows he's reaching a big audience these days.
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