1115.org

Perhaps emboldened and embiggened after proposing a bill that would make it a federal crime to enter a brothel, Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-OH) is organizing a Congressional boycott of Newsweek:

House Republican Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce (Ohio), for her part, is urging all Congressional offices to cancel their subscriptions to Newsweek as a way of punishing the magazine.

“I urge the magazine and members of the media to return to the journalistic integrity that the public deserves, and I encourage every Congressional office to cancel their subscription to Newsweek until accountability is restored,” Pryce said Tuesday.

Integrity. Accountability. In the immortal words of Onyx, Bacdafucup!

In February, The Hill surveyed Congressional offices and found that Republican members overwhelmingly watched Fox News during their work days.

Given this non-partisan PIPA/Knowledge Networks poll, shouldn’t they be dumping their subscriptions to Fox News:

The extent of Americans’ misperceptions vary significantly depending on their source of news. Those who receive most of their news from Fox News are more likely than average to have misperceptions. Those who receive most of their news from NPR or PBS are less likely to have misperceptions. These variations cannot simply be explained as a result of differences in the demographic characteristics of each audience, because these variations can also be found when comparing the demographic subgroups of each audience. been found, that WMD have been found in Iraq and that world public opinion approved of the US going to war with Iraq.

Presumably Pryce wouldn’t want to cancel Congress’ Fox News subscription as the feature graphic on her website commemorates a recent appearance on the channel, but it would be just as ineffective a punishment as shunning Newsweek: Congressional offices don’t pay for most subscriptions.

And if journalistic integrity is cause for cancellation, what of Armstrong Williams, Maggie Gallagher, Michael McManus and others paid by the Bush administration to write propaganda?

There’s quite a bit of bad journalism produced at the moment, but it pales in comparison to the lack of accountability integrity deficit displayed by those running the country. Does that mean I can stop paying my taxes?

People like Pryce, Tom DeLay, the President and his handlers are using the federal government to settle scores and intimidate the media into even less critical coverage than they receive now. If Republicans were subject to the media they pretend exists, very few would still be in office.