A set of ministers of misinformation
TO ANY fair-minded observer - meaning the vast majority of the American people who could care less about the Republican Party, the Democratic Party, what is liberal, what is conservative, what is right wing, left wing, or who the second baseman is - former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's book, "What Happened," comes about as no great shock or surprise. McClellan's duty was to put out all information, whether true or not, to put the Bush administration in the best possible light.
This trend seemed to have its birth with Bill Moyers, Lyndon Johnson's press secretary from 1965-67, and has been practiced in varying degrees right up to the current press secretary, Dana Perino.
Moyers, to his credit, resigned, presumably when he could no longer dish out Johnson's propaganda about the Vietnam War. McClellan could no longer continue serving George W. Bush if he had any inkling of doubt about administration policies.
No doubt, Perino enjoys her job, the salary, the perks, and what will be available for her when Bush leaves office, as long as she keeps her feelings to herself and just puts out information to make the administration look good. Until we have a president again who has frequent, regularly scheduled press conferences, and thus serves as his or her own press secretary like John F. Kennedy, this trend of press secretaries being ministers of propaganda will continue.
STEVE PHILLIPS
Shirley 