Paid propagandist at yesterday's "teleconference"

As if scripting what real soldiers were allowed to say to C-Plus Caligula wasn't bad enough, it turns out that Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo, the lone woman in the group, isn't one of the grunts in the field, but instead is in the military in public affairs as a spokesperson to the media.

Tim Karr has the story:

The soldier in question is Master Sgt. Corine Lombardo; she works in public affairs for the military as spokesperson to the media. While she's emerged elsewhere in mainstream reports on Iraq, she hasn't always been identified in her role.

A New York Times story from April correctly cited Lombardo as a "military spokesperson." Another report in the Albany Times-Union merely cited her as a "24-year Guard veteran." In his report, Times-Union scribe Tim O'Brien quoted Lombardo extensively as she praised the hard work of her division and drew special attention to their successful cooperation with local forces to "rebuild Iraqi infrastructure."

"I enjoy what I'm doing over there and enjoy getting to know the Iraqi people," Lombardo tells the Times-Union stenographer. "The support of my family has been tremendous."

Bush could have let the American people in on this political theater. He could have pointed out the flak as that person in military garb regurgitating the White House line. Instead, he pretended that Lombardo was a grunt, like the other soldiers seated at her side, engaged in a frank conversation about the state of the war.

When prodded by reporters about the staged nature of Thursday's press event, White House press secretary Scott McClellan took offense: "I'm sorry, are you suggesting that what our troops were saying was not sincere, or what they said was not their own thoughts?"

"But I also asked this morning, were they being told by their commanders what to say or what to do, and you indicated, no," responded a reporter in the White House press gallery. "Was there any prescreening of -- ?"

"I'm not aware of any such -- any such activities that were being undertaken," McClellan interjected. "We coordinated closely with the Department of Defense. You can ask if there was any additional things that they did. But we work very closely with them to coordinate these events, and the troops can ask the President whatever they want. They've always been welcome to do that."

McClellan added that the president wanted to talk with troops on the ground who have first-hand knowledge about the situation.

Lombardo's only fist-hand knowledge is in spreading propaganda. According to David Axe the Village Voice's reporter in Iraq: "Her job when I was with the 42nd Infantry Division included taking reporters to lunch. She lives in a fortified compound in Tikrit and rarely leaves. Many public-affairs types in Iraq never leave their bases, and they're speaking for those who do the fighting and dying."

So far the media has stopped buying it. Let's see if they can keep it up, once they no longer get invited to the cocktail parties and Bush withdraws their silly nicknames.