by TChris

The president should be embarrassed by his administration's efforts to disguise political propaganda as news. Instead, he's proud, and he doesn't intend to change the practice.

President Bush says that one of the Justice Department lawyers has produced a legal opinion that supports his view (are you surprised?): the law permits the administration to package information as a news story, complete with fake journalists, ready to be aired on local news broadcasts. People who don't work for the president disagree.

David Walker, the comptroller general who heads the GAO, said he disagreed with Bush's stance and was "disappointed by the administration's actions."

"This is not just a legal issue, it's also an ethical matter," Walker said. "The taxpayers have a right to know when the government is trying to influence them with their own money."