Politico gives Fleischer space to flack for Miami Dolphins without disclosing his financial conflict of interest.
Politico gives Fleischer space to flack for Miami Dolphins without disclosing his financial conflict of interest.
In Mike Allen’s Playbook today, former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer provides a guest “Sports Blink” about the NFL playoffs, in which he praises “the mighty Dolphins“:
SPORTS BLINK — Since the usually thorough AP inexplicably omitted the AFC East from the playoff scenarios we published yesterday, ARI FLEISCHER picked up the ball: “The mighty Dolphins can win the division if they beat the lowly Chiefs this weekend, and then beat the Jets in New York for the final regular season game. From 1-15 last year to the possibility of a playoff birth this year (for the first time since President Bush choked on a pretzel watching them in 2001) — and their destiny is under their control. Now that’s news.”
Unmentioned by either Allen or Fleischer is the fact that Fleischer, a Dolphins fan, has also been a paid consultant for the team.
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If you halfwit “journalist” types want to get it right, just watch how Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow do it.
**eyes rolling**
December 19th, 2008 at 1:58 pmHi Z
Is it my imagination, or does Ari look more than a little old and tired in that picture? Heh… I guess those years of flacking for a delusional hack like Botch really took it outta Ari.
December 19th, 2008 at 1:59 pmWho!?
RIP
December 19th, 2008 at 2:08 pmSGT Stephen R. Sherman
C CO 1-5 IN (STRYKER)
KIA 3 Feb 2005
Mosul, Iraq
I can’t find anywhere in the post what game they’re actually playing, not that I really care…. oh wait, something at the bottom about metal bats… is it baseball season already?
December 19th, 2008 at 2:20 pmI bet you could pay Ari to root for any old team – even the lowly chiefs
December 19th, 2008 at 2:24 pmCaption:
December 19th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
He’s starting to resemble OJ Simpson.
December 19th, 2008 at 2:27 pmThe Republic of Stupidity Says:
Hi Z
Is it my imagination, or does Ari look more than a little old and tired in that picture? Heh… I guess those years of flacking for a delusional hack like Botch really took it outta Ari.
December 19th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Hi TRoS. That’s the look all Bushies get when they realize they have associated themselves with an abject failure. :-D
December 19th, 2008 at 2:27 pmAri had more of an impact on the franchise last season when the team won ONE game.
December 19th, 2008 at 2:37 pmWait, does this mean that Bush will go back to choking on pretzels if Miami makes the playoffs? GO DOLPHINS!!!
December 19th, 2008 at 3:14 pmwow, i never really paid attention to tbe dolphins before since they’re in the AFC, but now ill actively root against them. go chiefs! go jets!
December 19th, 2008 at 3:16 pmMeh. Politico did indeed commit a journalistic faux pas. Naughty them, spank spank.
However, it’s not like his article actually makes a difference regarding whether the Dolphins win or not.
December 19th, 2008 at 3:20 pmJust about what I’d expect. When I see one of these scumbags actually come clean about a conflict of interest, that’s when I’LL choke on a pretzel.
December 19th, 2008 at 3:55 pmSuddenly I became a Chiefs and Jets fan!
December 19th, 2008 at 8:29 pmThe Dolphin’s dimished prospects has been God’s way of punishing Florida for the 2000 election. Clearly, He disfavors liars and cheats moreso than any of the groups targeted by the GOP legislative agendas of the past 8 years.
M
December 19th, 2008 at 10:21 pmThis should really be a non-story. As a sports fan, I can give many examples of “objective” individuals in sports with glaring biases, whether they are for the home town team(s) or for just a player or players. Sports is built on the hypocrisy of things like this.
Uh, techsoldaten…the Dolphins had 1, ONE win last year and they are on the cusp of winning the division. I wouldn’t call that God’s retribution, I’d call that a divine miracle of biblical proportions. Same goes for the Tampa Rays going to the World Series and having a glut of good young, highly talented player at the big league level and in the minors. Add the USF football program and UF men’s basketball winning two national title to that list as well.
Sports and politics are two things that are best left apart.
December 19th, 2008 at 11:50 pmHey warthead, put a sock in it already.
December 21st, 2008 at 12:02 amThinkProgress is wrong: Ari is NOT a “paid consultant” to the Dolphins any more than he is to every other team in the NFL. What Politico failed to do was disclose he’s a biased Dolphins fan. That’s the big story here. Nowhere in the PalmBeachPost article does it say, as far as I have seen, that he gets paid to do media training for one NFL team more than another. He met with all 32 teams from what I gather. I’d be glad to stand corrected if I’m wrong.
December 21st, 2008 at 12:01 pm