Commentary; Armstrong Williams: No Money Left Behind

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"There was a conversation that occurred at a 1966 Washington Urban League ceremony honoring myself and Sen. [Strom Thurmond] for the growing bonds between Black and white Americans," [Armstrong Williams] wrote. "Back stage, Sen. Thurmond leaned over and said, 'You know, I have deep roots in the Black community...deep roots." His voice softened to a raspy whisper, 'You've heard the rumors.'

Now, he's taking heat for raking in a quarter of a million dollars without acknowledging that he was on the take from the Education Department. Like many Black conservatives, Armstrong is a card-carrying hypocrite. Not because he doesn't believe what he's being paid to say, but because he flails about government handouts for the poor and now we see his hands have been deep into taxpayers' pockets. He dumps on poor people and accuses them of being unaccountable. Yet, when he's caught taking taxpayers money to help spread propaganda, he pretends to not know that he was doing anything wrong.

Let's not stop with Armstrong. The belief by education department officials, including former Secretary Rod Paige, that Armstrong Williams or any other Black conservative could sway Black public opinion in Bush's favor--even for $240,000--is laughable. On a good day, Black Republicans represent 10 percent of African-Americans and they can only get elected to Congress from districts that are at least 90 percent white. If Bush administration officials were going to hire Armstrong to sway anyone, it should have been to influence white conservatives.

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Commentary; Armstrong Williams: No Money Left Behind

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone has asked me: "Does Armstrong [Williams] really believe that garbage or is he doing it for the money." In view of last week's disclosure about his receiving a $240,000 federal contract that was ...

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