Kristof strikes again.
A consensus is emerging on the left that Mr. Bush is fundamentally dishonest, perhaps even evil -- a nut, yes, but mostly a liar and a schemer.
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I'm against the "liar" label for two reasons. First, it further polarizes the political cesspool, and this polarization is making America increasingly difficult to govern. Second, insults and rage impede understanding.
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In fact, of course, Mr. Bush did stretch the truth. The run-up to Iraq was all about exaggerations, but not flat-out lies.
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Mr. Bush's central problem is not that he was lying about Iraq, but that he was overzealous and self-deluded. He surrounded himself with like-minded ideologues, and they all told one another that Saddam was a mortal threat to us. They deceived themselves along with the public -- a more common problem in government than flat-out lying.
Kristof follows the typical recipe for press-rats seeking to jump the sinking neocon ship. Blame liberals for being too overzealous, pick on us for being too right about the wrongness of the war and this administration, and then provide a so-called reasonable analysis that triangulates between our rightness and the horrible wrongness that was distributed by this administration thanks to the media whores corps.
Surely there is a component of groupthink involved in this administration's crimes against humanity. Their ideological circle jerk freed each of them individually to do whatever they wanted, including lie to the American people.
Kristof says Bush "stretched the truth." I say he shoved a firecracker up its ass and lit it on fire. Now liberals are left to sweep up the detritus while media whores like Kristof blame us for acting too pissed about it.
Go fuck yourself.
That doesn't make me feel better. Riding these liars out on a rail would.
(crossposted at my blog)