U.S. Government

Carlucci Can't Hide His Role in 'Lumumba'

Submitted by Laura Miller on

"Most people would be thrilled to be a real-life character in a movie. Not Frank Carlucci. Lawyers for the former U.S. Secretary of Defense have pressured the film's distributor to remove his character's identity from the showings of 'Lumumba' on HBO this month," Pacific News Service contributor Lucy Komisar writes. "Carlucci doesn't appreciate the attention. Maybe that's understandable. In 1960, he was the second secretary in the U.S. embassy in Kinshasa, the Congo. That was the time when, according to declassified U.S.

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Main Source: 
Pacific News Service, February 14, 2002
Topics: 
International
U.S. Government

Super Bowl Propaganda

Submitted by Laura Miller on

In what appears to be the US government's biggest single event advertising buy, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy spent over $3.2 million for two 30-second ads aired during the Super Bowl. "It's one thing for Budweiser to spend a small fortune waving the flag; it's another for we taxpayers to foot the bill for ads touting controversial public policies," writes WorkingforChange columnist Geov Parrish. "And what did we get for our money? Blatant propaganda -- specifically, an argument closely linked to the Bush Administration.

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Main Source: 
Alternet, February 4, 2002
Topics: 
Advertising
U.S. Government

Cheney Plays "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

An analysis of the rhetoric from presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer and Vice President Dick Cheney reveals a disturbing pattern of dissembling about the General Accounting Office request for information on the Vice President's energy task force. The two have consistently exaggerated the GAO's request to make it appear unreasonable and paint the administration as a victim.

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Main Source: 
Spinsanity, February 4, 2002
Topics: 
Rhetoric
U.S. Government

White House Enron Spin

Submitted by Anonymous on

When it comes to the Enron scandal, "White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer has managed the spin duties expertly," writes William Saletan on Slate. By passing the buck, playing dumb, or dodging the issue, Fleischer uses classic spin tactics to evade the Enron-related questions of the White House press corps.

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Main Source: 
Slate online magazine, January 23, 2002
Topics: 
Corporations
Public Relations
U.S. Government

Fiscal Fantasies, Deficit Realities, and Presidential Lies.

Submitted by John Stauber on

President Bush is stumping today in the southern U.S. accusing some of wanting to "raise taxes in the midst of a recession." New York Times columnist Paul Krugman says this is like Bush's claim that Enron's chairman Kenneth Lay supported his opponent in the Texas governor's race and "it sure feels like a lie. ... And the chest-thumping you hear is the sound of an administration trying to prevent any rational discussion of the fiscal mess its tax plan has created."

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Main Source: 
The New York Times
Topics: 
U.S. Government

US Energy Department Attacks Whistleblowers

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The Project on Government Oversight has issued a report on reprisals and retaliation against whistleblowers at the U.S. Department of Energy. "Retaliation at DOE does not necessarily entail attempting to fire federal employees," it states. "In the majority of cases in the security area, DOE supervisors attempt to revoke the whistleblower's clearance on trumped-up charges. Then they remove them from any responsibility for oversight of security. On the other hand, contractors often lose their contracts, or their jobs, for blowing the whistle. ...

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Main Source: 
TomPaine.com
Topics: 
Ethics
Secrecy
U.S. Government

Driving in Circles

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

The Bush administration has announced that an eight-year-old, $2 billion federal program to create high-mileage gas vehicles was being scrapped and a new program -- focusing on hydrogen fuel-cells -- was being created. According to Jack Doyle, author of Taken for A Ride: Detroit's Big Three and the Politics of Pollution, this new fuel-efficiency initiative is more PR than progress.

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Main Source: 
TomPaine.com
Topics: 
Corporations
Environment
U.S. Government

More on Carlyle Group

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

Major media have been remarkably quiet about the Carlyle Group, "one of the most powerful, well-connected, and secretive companies in the world," which brought together high-powered former politicians including George Bush seniors with Saudi financial moguls and even members of the Bin Laden family. "The Bush administration isn't afraid to mix business and politics, and no other firm embodies that penchant better than the Carlyle Group," reports Red Herring magazine. "Walking that fine line is what Carlyle does best.

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Main Source: 
Red Herring, January 8, 2002
Topics: 
Corporations
Lobbying
U.S. Government

The USA Account

Submitted by Sheldon Rampton on

"In any great brand, the leverageable asset is the emotional underpinning of the brand," says Charlotte Beers, who heads the U.S. government's efforts to improve America's image in the world. According to Washington Post staff writer Peter Carlson, Beers specializes in "branding" -- "a quasi-alchemical process that promises to identify a particular company's product with desirable attributes." According to U.S.

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Main Source: 
Washington Post, December 31, 2001
Topics: 
Marketing
U.S. Government

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