<$BlogRSDUrl$>

A tribute to Condoleeza Rice and George W. Bush who, despite voluminious evidence to the contrary, said, "I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon, that they would try to use an airplane as a missile," adding that "even in retrospect" there was "nothing" to suggest that" and "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," respectively.

Thursday, February 03, 2005

THE QUESTIONABLE ETHICS OF GEORGE WILL

Sure, we watched him for years with that “smarter than thou” attitude and obscure, irrelevant historical references, but did you know that like Kristol and Krauthammer, baseball-loving George has a few, shall we say, ethical issues. For instance, advising Reagan on a speech and then lauding the same. And like Armstrong Williams, does not always divulge what seemingly appears to be payola.

The most egregious has to be supplying GWB with the questions he was going to ask in an interview in 2000. This was a time when the country was sizing up an unknown, failed oil man from Texas. How he responded to the questions was to provide some insight into the depth of his grasp of issues and his ability to communicate with the American people. Instead, George Will gave him the questions before hand so as not ambush the man who would later lose an election and become president anyway. This is an insult to journalism and a deception the American people should not forgive. Did Will take any heat from the right-wing blowhards for his ethical lapses? Gosh no! Did he have a “mea culpa” like Dan Rather?


George Will's Ethics: None of Our Business?

by Norman Solomon

We can argue about George Will's political views. But there's no need to debate his professional ethics.

Late December brought to light a pair of self-inflicted wounds to the famous columnist's ethical pretensions. He broke an elementary rule of journalism -- and then, when the New York Times called him on it, proclaimed the transgression to be no one's business but his own.
It turns out that George Will was among a number of prominent individuals to receive $25,000 per day of conversation on a board of advisers for Hollinger International, a newspaper firm controlled by magnate Conrad Black. Although Will has often scorned the convenient forgetfulness of others, the Times reported that "Mr. Will could not recall how many meetings he attended." But an aide confirmed the annual $25,000 fee.


Even for a wealthy commentator, that's a hefty paycheck for one day of talk. But it didn't stop Will from lavishing praise on Black in print -- without a word about their financial tie.

{Oddly reminiscent of the recent Armstrong Williams scandal}

Source

The Hypocrisy of George Will

Pundit's double standards, ethical lapses seldom noted

By Steve Rendall

Will suffered another ethical lapse in the 2000 campaign when he met with George W. Bush just before the Republican candidate was to appear on ABC's This Week. Later, in a column (Washington Post, 3/4/01), Will admitted that he'd met with Bush to preview questions, not wanting to "ambush him with unfamiliar material." In the meeting, Will provided Bush with a 3-by-5 card containing a crucial question he would later ask the candidate on the air. Though strongly resembling his coaching of candidate Reagan in 1980, and in strong contrast to his treatment of Jesse Jackson in 1988, this extraordinary admission received little media mention.

Source

{Seems you can’t trust anybody these days including pedantic moralizers like George Will}
|

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?