Wall Street Journal tries to erase Karl Rove's bin Laden lie

[ProSense]

Wall Street Journal tries to erase Karl Rove's bin Laden lie

by Jed Lewison

In his Wall Street Journal column yesterday, Karl Rove claimed that Bill Clinton had said the killing of Osama bin Laden wasn't a major 'achievement' for President Obama (emphasis mine):

As for the killing of Osama bin Laden, Mr. Obama did what virtually any commander in chief would have done in the same situation. Even President Bill Clinton says in the film “that’s the call I would have made.” For this to be portrayed as the epic achievement of the first term tells you how bare the White House cupboards are.

But Greg Sargent caught Rove with his pants down, because it turns out what Bill Clinton really said was this:

“He took the harder and the more honorable path. When I saw what had happened, I thought to myself, `I hope that’s the call I would have made.’”

That's precisely the opposite of what Rove claimed Clinton had said. It was such an egregious lie that Rove's editors at the Wall Street Journal decided they had to issue a correction. Now it reads (again, emphasis mine):

As for the killing of Osama bin Laden, Mr. Obama did what virtually any commander in chief would have done in the same situation. Even President Bill Clinton says in the film "I hope that's the call I would have made." For this to be portrayed as the epic achievement of the first term tells you how bare the White House cupboards are.

That changes the meaning of Rove's argument entirely, but the editors merely explained it away as if it were a clerical error. "Editor's note: An earlier version of this column included an incomplete quote from Bill Clinton in the last paragraph."

An "incomplete" quote? Bullshit. It was a complete lie. And now that the paragraph features a more accurate quote, it completely upends Rove's argument. It almost sounds like Rove is trying to attack President Clinton rather than President Obama.

- more -

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/23/1077059/-Wall-Street-Journal-tries-to-erase-Karl-Rove-s-bin-Laden-lie

Oooh, the Etch-A-Sketch edit!

[ProSense]

1. Kick for

exposing liars and their enablers.

[klook]

2. Would any commander in chief,

during an unfinished war of aggression against a country that didn't attack us, play flyboy dress up and stand on the deck of an aircraft carrier with a "Mission Accomplished" barrier in the background?

No. Only one would have the plastic cojones required to pull that off -- Rove's former boss.

[SalviaBlue]

3. k&R