in other news, jennifer aniston and brad pitt are separating. at the end of the day, who really gives a shit? sure it's too bad that it didn't work out but come tomorrow, more people will be aware of this than the fact that the bush administration paid a pundit (armstrong williams) $240,000 to push the No Child Left Behind act in his articles. as a journalist, he should have known better and Tribune Media Services that ran his articles has promptly dropped him. i hope the fuckhead never works again. it's not treading any line. it's unethical period. he taints the entire system with that one act, and the president shouldn't be spared any blame. it's the under-handed nature of the entire administration that feeds the various aspects of making public policies that are entirely not open to the public for any form of discourse.
it's so very easy to dance on the line and tread the gray area with religous fervor for our pet causes but whether or not one can sleep soundly at night knowing we'd just pissed on our morality for the sake of personal gain is up to the individual. the administration isn't to blame for this entirely. mr. williams deserves all the animosity that comes his way. he is in effect a pariah now. he's damaged good, and rightly so. whatever harm he's done to his career, however, is a miniscule to what he's done to the rest of the field. when questions are raised about the validity of opinions made my agenda setters, then the legitimacy of their expertise is tarnished. the raising of questions is certainly a fundamental tenet to an honest media, but when that media fails to catch an instance such as this, then their responsibilty is to the people and not the corporate body. then there is no body with out the public's trust into that institution once more.
while it is romantic to think that ethics are always followed, it'll never be a reality, but the blantant and arrogant nature of this is in a way, a positive. it makes for the administration to be more open and the media to check its talking heads and writers to ensure they stay more honest and forthcoming with personal conflicts of interest.
to stay ethical in the service of the public good is all too romantic an ideal to strive for, but it's a goal that many should hope to live up to. journalism, public discourse, civic virtue, morality, etc. -- those things the public seems to hold a cynical view of, will again one day become respected.