Have you bothered reading the transcript of the press conference in question? I saw it LIVE and I've read it and guess what topic came up?
Go ahead, you'll never guess.
excerpt:
Q Mr. President, do you think it's a proper use of government funds to pay commentators to promote your policies?
THE PRESIDENT: No.
Q Are you going to order that --
THE PRESIDENT: Therefore, I will not pay you to -- (laughter.)
Q Fair enough. Are you ordering that there be an end to that practice?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, I am. I expect my Cabinet Secretaries to make sure that that practice doesn't go forward. There needs to be independence. And Mr. Armstrong Williams admitted he made a mistake. And we didn't know about this in the White House, and there needs to be a nice, independent relationship between the White House and the press, the administration and the press. So, no, we shouldn't be going for it.
Yes, sir.
Q Well, Mr. Williams made a mistake --
THE PRESIDENT: Who?
Q Mr. Williams made a mistake. Did the Department of Education make a mistake?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. They did.
Q What will happen to the people that made this decision?
THE PRESIDENT: We've got new leadership going to the Department of Education. But all our Cabinet Secretaries must realize that we will not be paying commentators to advance our agenda. Our agenda ought to be able to stand on its own two feet. I'm confident you'll be, over the course of the next four years, willing to give our different policies an objective look -- won't you? Yes, I can see that.
~snip~
I'll bet you'll never guess in a million years under whose administration the practice began, but I hope I set your mind at ease now that you know it will not continue.
Frankly I had no problem with the specific Williams or Gallagher situations and I can defend why, but you seem to be proceeding as if the status quo were still in effect. As you can see, it's not.
Rep. Slaughter Calls on President Bush to Explain Emerging White House Briefing Room Scandal