Down the money hole

I'm not saying that it shouldn't be investigated (and it should), but isn't it sad that the Armstrong Williams debacle, already 241k in the hole, is now going to cost American taxpayers even more scratch as the FCC investigates the whole thing?

I would think honest, moral values, budget conservative Republicans would step forward and tell the truth out of conscience and strength of their beliefs more than anything else.

*UPDATE* Secretary of Education Rod Paige says we shouldn't worry about the whole thing, it's standard "outreach." And much like the administrations reaction to Abu Ghraib, he's upset not that it happened, but that it got out:

Paige, the nation's first African American education secretary, said in a statement that he was deeply disturbed by the publicity surrounding the $240,000 contract. He announced an investigation by the Department of Education's inspector general to clear up any unresolved issues so as not to "sully the fine people and good name of this department."

SOP for the GOP: Shoot the messenger.

*UPDATED* Even more Republican outreach to minorities, in the form of a taxpayer funded calendar that paints the GOP as champs of civil rights.

*UPDATE MORE* I have nothing to say about the whole blogger pay scandal. It seems to me that bloggers are independents and they can do pretty much whatever they want. It would be a little distressing to learn bloggers were on the take, but that doesn't seem to be what happened. August Pollak makes a point that the right will talk about it regardless of it lacking truth because it looks damaging to the left and it makes them feel like they are somehow better people.

The bigger picture is that the right blogosphere sees themselves as a new kind of media. That's why this is such a big deal for them. They see the TV news and newspapers as old school, and they, as bloggers, are the cutting edge, the new Armstrong Williams, if you will. That's why they want to make this into such a big deal. Don't believe me? Look at Hugh Hewitt on O'Reilly. (As an aside, why would Hugh and Bill made it a point to know if Kos did consulting for the Dean camp? How would it affect them in the first place?)

Of course, this isn't a big deal. But as Pollak points out, it will be around forever.