The last ten days have been among the most shameful in the history of American journalism.

On April 20th, the New York Times published its expose of the Bush administration's use of -approved, prepped, and financially-enriched "military analysts" to appear on TV to help sell the invasion of Iraq, and then put a positive spin on the occupation -- even as conditions on the ground deteriorated. In other words….LIES!

In that same expose by David Barstow. the Pentagon military analyst program was not just unethical but illegal. It violates, for starters, specific restrictions that Congress has been placing in its annual appropriation bills every year since 1951. According to those restrictions, "No part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized by the Congress."

To get a perspective, when asked how big a story this is, John Stauber of the Center for Media and Democracy called it the Pentagon Papers of the Iraq war. WOW!

The Pentagon Papers, as some of you may recall, was part of the slew of scandals, along with the Wategate break-in, that contributed to the downfall of the Nixon Administration, and President Nixon’s eventual resignation.

So, considering the seriousness and immensity of this affair, you would think that it would be the leading story in every newspaper and news broadcast and the subject for endless debate on the political talk shows, right?

WRONG!

Arianna Huffington writes, “This near-complete blackout imposed by the culpable news organizations is a despicable abdication of their central role in our society -- and has raised the ire of many in the blogosphere.”

"Mum's been the word on [the Times'] bombshell throughout the megamedia," writes Meteor Blades of the DailyKos. "The talking point - or perhaps the memo from on high - seems to be: DON’T TALK.... A hundred years of scrubbing will not remove the blood from their hands."

WATCH THIS:

And make no mistake, this is not just another case of influence peddling and such. It has been discovered that money has been exchanged to ensure that the White House gets its message out to the general public.

Hard ot believe? Just ask Armstrong Williams, an African-American conservative political commentator. In 2005 it was revealed that he accepted money from the George W. Bush administration to promote the No Child Left Behind on his television and radio programs.

HERE ARE ADDITIONAL RELEVENT ARTICLES

• Pentagon Scandal
• Pentagon Pundit Scandal Broke the Law
• Pravda in America: The Pentagon Experts 'Scandal' by Dave Nalle
• Embedding Military Propagandists into the News Media