Among the many distortions, misrepresentations, and outright falsifications that have emerged from the debate over Iraq, one in particular stands out above all others. This is the charge that George W. Bush misled us into an immoral and/or unnecessary war in Iraq by telling a series of lies that have now been definitively exposed.
What makes this charge so special is the amazing success it has enjoyed in getting itself established as a self-evident truth even though it has been refuted and discredited over and over again by evidence and argument alike. In this it resembles nothing so much as those animated cartoon characters who, after being flattened, blown up, or pushed over a cliff, always spring back to life with their bodies perfectly intact. Perhaps, like those cartoon characters, this allegation simply cannot be killed off, no matter what.
Nevertheless, I want to take one more shot at exposing it for the lie that it itself really is. Although doing so will require going over ground that I and many others have covered before, I hope that revisiting this well-trodden terrain may also serve to refresh memories that have grown dim, to clarify thoughts that have grown confused, and to revive outrage that has grown commensurately dulled.
You must read the entire article. Like Podhoretz and many others, I have grown weary trying to refute this persistent distortion. It come's up constantly in my comment section. It is refuted by other commenters and it seems that no amount of evidence; no amount of truth can convince the Bush Haters--because they know in their heart that BUSH LIED. They feel it deeply.
It is not amenable to rational argument.
In that it is exactly like the delusions suffered by the severely ill schizophrenics--except that it is a self-imposed derangement of thinking and cognitive functioning, rather than one brought about by genetic predisposition.
Podhoretz, after a devastating debunking of all the most recent Deomcratic lies and distortions, goes on to flay Joseph Wilson and his deceitful assertions. Podhoretz concludes with:
And so long as we are hunting for liars in this area, let me suggest that we begin with the Democrats now proclaiming that they were duped, and that we then broaden out to all those who in their desperation to delegitimize the larger policy being tested in Iraq—the policy of making the Middle East safe for America by making it safe for democracy—have consistently used distortion, misrepresentation, and selective perception to vilify as immoral a bold and noble enterprise and to brand as an ignominious defeat what is proving itself more and more every day to be a victory of American arms and a vindication of American ideals.
If a lie is repeated often enough all the dumb jackasses in the world not only get to believe it, they even swear by it. ~ attributed to someone named Billy Boy Franklin (and whoever he was, he certainly nailed it in this quote).
UPDATE: If, after you read Podhoretz' exhaustive review of the data and takedown of those who remain histrionically convinced that President Bush lied about WMD in Iraq, then this article will certainly strike a sympathetic chord in your malfunctioning little brains.
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