A Little Factual Re-adjustment.

I hate to burst people's bubble. You know I do.



But sometimes I just gotta.



Over and over in the news, especially immediately following any speech the President has given, I see the following phrase, or a similar construction, pop up:



"The President admitted that Saddam Hussein had no part in the planning of the 9/11 attacks."



Sometimes it's "acknowledged," sometimes it's "grants," but usually it's "admits."



I hate to break it to you. But factually, you're implying something that simply isn't true.



The President, the VP, the Secretary of State, THE WHOLE GODDAMN BUSH ADMINISTRATION, has never, NOT ONCE, EVER, claimed that Saddam Hussein was even in part responsible for 9/11.



They have, and continue to repeat, claimed that Hussein, and his administration, had links to al-Qaeda. Coincidentally, al-Qaeda DID perform the attacks on 9/11. But that's not the same as claiming Hussein did.



It's simple fact that the largest known concentration of al-Qaeda operatives in the world was in Iraq, immediately prior to the invasion. It's also simple fact that operatives are known to have contacted Hussein on multiple occasions, even to the extent of current #2 man, al-Zawahiri, or wtfever his name is, being seen at the Presidential Palace in Baghdad by hundreds of witnesses.



Clearly, Hussein DID IN FACT have ties to al-Qaeda. Bush, and his administration, have said that. Many times. They've never even attempted to tie Hussein to 9/11; and frankly I'm tired of the lying about it, and the coy attempts to make it look after the fact as though they did.



Hey! Reporters! Stop trying to fool the people who've never heard any of Bush's speeches themselves. That's contemptible. There's plenty of material for you negativists to work with, without trying to distort the things he's said. Why, oh why, can you guys not just simply make fun of the things HE'S ACTUALLY DONE WRONG? Why are you so married to the concept of "proving" him wrong in regard to the war on terror?



Is it maybe because you've invested yourselves into it so much at this point that you know that if the war is ever won, your credibility will be destroyed forever? Are you really willing to risk that credibility, through a combination of falsehood, outright fabrication, distortion, and implication without evidence, to try to protect yourselves from that outcome?



I'm just curious. Let me know when you figure it out.



In the meantime, why not READ WHAT THE PRESIDENT HAS ACTUALLY SAID ABOUT HUSSEIN AND AL-QAEDA?



I know this is a foreign concept. But try it.



Here's some.



Here's some more. (Including "admits" goodness.)



Here's even more.



And yet more.



Here's what then - Press Secretary Scott McClellan said.



Here's what the President said to the U.N. General Assembly.



Here's the President's speech presenting the justification for war on Iraq. ( In 2002. Dispute all you like his justification - nowhere in that speech does he say, even once, that Hussein was involved. He does say Hussein CELEBRATED afterwards, but that's actually a matter of public record.)



Check it out for yourselves. Instead of buying the media's bullshit story, go to the White House website and read the text of the President's comments yourself. Hell, they archive transcripts of EVERY SINGLE THING HE'S SAID IN PUBLIC SINCE HE TOOK OFFICE.



Never even once did he claim that Saddam perpetrated 9/11. He has done so very many things wrong that I am simply incensed by the media's total inability to simply attack the things he's actually done wrong. Instead, they resort to a never-ending train of outright lies, in the long run destroying their own credibility.



Sadly, the few news organizations not participating are being tarred with the same brush of loss of credibility merely for being in the same profession. That's a crying shame, and I hope sincerely that the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and many others are one day called to account, most severely indeed, for their lies, falsehoods, and outright betrayal of the public trust.