While Friedman Skips Town, Kristof Wears the Fu Manchu

[BurtWorm]

Witness his latest piece of Friedmanesque shit:


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/30/opinion/30KRIS.html

OP-ED COLUMNIST
Calling Bush a Liar
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: June 30, 2004

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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.

Lefties have been asking me whether Mr. Bush has already captured Osama bin Laden, and whether Mr. Bush will plant W.M.D. in Iraq. Those are the questions of a conspiracy theorist, for even if officials wanted to pull such stunts, they would be daunted by the fear of leaks.

Bob Woodward's latest book underscores that Mr. Bush actually believed that Saddam did have W.M.D. After one briefing, Mr. Bush turned to George Tenet and protested, "I've been told all this intelligence about having W.M.D., and this is the best we've got?" The same book also reports that Mr. Bush told Mr. Tenet several times, "Make sure no one stretches to make our case."

In fact, of course, Mr. Bush did stretch the truth. The run-up to Iraq was all about exaggerations, but not flat-out lies. Indeed, there's some evidence that Mr. Bush carefully avoids the most blatant lies ? witness his meticulous descriptions of the periods in which he did not use illegal drugs.

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