Same-sex marriage foe in hot water

According to the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz, the Department of Health and Human Services paid Maggie Gallagher $21,500 to promote the president's proposed "$300 million initiative encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families." Ms. Gallagher neglected to mention this payment when she promoted this initiative in her columns.

For the record, I met Ms. Gallagher when she spoke at a Federalist Society Symposium that I directed at the nation's finest law school in 1994. I found her pleasant, intelligent and engaging. Nonetheless, as Kurtz notes:

In columns, television appearances and interviews with such newspapers as The Washington Post, Gallagher last year defended Bush's proposal for a constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage.

She has offered some thoughtful criticism of same-sex marriage. And I believe we need to address the points she raises even if she has compromised herself by not disclosing that the administration paid her to advocate its policies. She showed bad judgment in taking the money. And worse judgment in failing to disclose the payment to such outlets as Universal Press Syndicate which distributes her column and National Review which publishes it.

I agree with Michelle Malkin who finds "galling the stupidity of the Bush administration officials who doled out taxpayer funds to conservatives in the media."

Hat tip: Dirty Harry.

UPDATE: Instapundit shares his thoughts on the Gallagher story here, calling it a "tempest in a teapot."

Captain Ed writes "[f]ull disclosure should be the lesson that pundits on all sides should take from this chapter." I agree.