Saturday, June 9, 2007

So-called liberal media overlook GOP falsehoods

Paul Krugman notes here that even the Washington Post gave Mitt Romney a pass when he wrongly stated earlier this week that the war in Iraq could have been avoided if Saddam Hussein had let in weapons inspectors.

Saddam did, in fact, allow weapons inspectors to enter the country. They didn't find anything, so the Bush administration ordered them out to make way for the U.S. invasion.

Romney's version of events is entirely, provably, scandalously false. But the media mostly have ignored his prevarications in favor of focusing on relatively trivial matters.

So, what's the latest on John Edwards' haircuts? What's Hillary wearing today? Have lightning and thunder interrupted any of Rudy Giuliani's speeches lately?


UPDATE: Here's another take on Romney's lie and how it echoed George W. Bush's fiction on the same subject.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is just another example of how the mainstream media has been irresponsble and incompetent. It has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative. It does have something to do with intimidation and it all started with the Reagan administration. The Bill Moyers special on how the media blew it when the Bush administration made its case for invading Iraq is a classic example. We're talking here about the three major television networks along with newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post. Where are the Edward R. Murrows of today? It was Murrow more than anyone who exposed Joseph McCarthy for fear-mongering liar that he was. We need someone to do the same thing today on the issues of terrorism and immigration. Self-serving politicians and commentators are appealing to our worst fears on these issues. In many cases, they are passing on misinformation or outright lying to advance their cause.
Rascal, I'd also like to know your opinion of Congressman Ron Paul. He's the Republican candidate from Texas who is taking the Bush administration to task for lying to us about Iraq and is calling for an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq. I thought he was great in the last debate, especially in his comments about how President Bush has gone completely against American values and traditions with a pre-emptive war, torture and the curtailing of civil liberties. He's just another story the mainstream media has missed.

The Rascal said...

Damn, Mr. B, you're good. You should have your own blog (not that you're not welcome here any time). As for Ron Paul, the guy is often right on the money, but overall, he's a bit too libertarian for me. Still, I loved how he got under Rudy's skin in that earlier GOP debate.