First there was the underestimation of cost for the Medicare drug plan. Now, Vicki Kemper at the Los Angeles Times has a piece about controversial "video news releases" that the Bush Administration has put out.
It was with great fanfare that the Bush administration unveiled 30- second television commercials and a two-page flier that would be mailed to 41 million seniors and disabled people, touting the newly enacted Medicare prescription drug benefit.Missing from the publicity was any mention of "video news releases," which feature "interviews" with government officials and voice-overs by production company employees posing as Washington reporters, for use in local TV news shows.
Last week the General Accounting Office ruled that the ads were ok, but not completely factual. Then this:
On Monday, less than a week after it concluded that the administration's Medicare commercials and fliers were technically legal but contained "notable omissions and errors," the General Accounting Office said it would conduct another investigation to determine whether the video news releases constituted illegal "covert propaganda."
Several Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, sent a letter to executives of the five major TV networks urging them to "immediately warn stations not to use these materials" because they contain no statement indicating that they were produced by the government.
This should come as a shock to no one. My first real inkling of just how produced the Bush Administration is came from the documentary Journeys With George by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's daughter Alexandra. During the 2000 Election Campaign, Alexandra Pelosi was a producer for NBC in Bush's press pool. Before a Bush rally, Alexandra filmed scores of painted signs that supported Bush. The idea was that the cameras would get people in the audience holding signs that they brought to the rally. But in reality, the signs were already pre-made.
I realize that Democrats do this as well, but I get the feeling that everything about Bush is pre-made for television. The ranch in Crawford, the appearances at NASCAR events and rodeos, and the visual backgrounds at all his speeches give the feeling of a Hollywood production. Just watch Wag The Dog and you'll know what I mean.