WHEN DO TWO WRONGS MAKE A RIGHT? ©

As a child, my grandfather taught me that two wrongs never make a right. I have honored that wisdom throughout my life and I still do. I thought that everyone did. However, after hearing yet another report on how this Whitehouse produces political propaganda, presents it to the public as though it were objective news, and then justifies the practice, I wonder.

At a recent press conference, Whitehouse spokesperson Scott McClellan was given an opportunity to discuss the ethics of this. He declaratively offered, “The informational news releases that you're referring to are something that have been in use for many years. It goes back to the early ’90s.” Trusting this to be true, NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell reiterated the claim, stating that the Clinton Administration was the first to engage in such questionable antics. Nonetheless, she added, “the Bush Administration has spent a quarter of a billion dollars on public relations, mostly for videos,” and apparently, this is “double what Bill Clinton spent.”

While speaking of the policy, neither of these comments addresses, what for me is the truer issue of “right” [otherwise considered admirable and amenable] or “wrong” [otherwise considered cruel and corrupt]. These proclamations seem as childish games. First, they hopscotch; then, they move from that game onto another. Mr. McClellan begins on the square marked “two wrongs make a right.” He then jumps to the equally childish box titled the “blame-game!” Ultimately he lands solidly on “Follow the leader.” Ms. Mitchell, on the other hand, is playing “Gotcha,” and “Can you top this?”

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