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Rosen: Liars lying about lies (liberal media, democrats in Congress, liberals and leftists)
Rocky Mountain News column ^ | Friday December 2nd, 2005 | Mike Rosen

Posted on 12/02/2005 2:57:51 AM PST by ajolympian2004

Liars lying about lies, by Mike Rosen


Vice President Dick Cheney gave a speech on Nov. 21 at the American Enterprise Institute defending the administration's Iraq policy. This was part of a long overdue counterattack against the tactics of the president's political critics and their allies in the liberal media. Cheney made a particular point of setting the record straight about his criticism of some of the critics.

He said, "Several days ago, I commented briefly on some recent statements that have been made by some members of Congress about Iraq. Within hours of my speech, a report went out on the wires under the headline, quote, Cheney Says War Critics Dishonest, Reprehensible, end quote." The vice president went to on to explain and emphasize that, "I do not believe it is wrong to criticize the war on terror or any aspect thereof. Disagreement, argument and debate are the essence of democracy, and none of us should want it any other way. . . . What is not legitimate and what I will again say is dishonest and reprehensible is the suggestion by some U.S. senators that the president of the United States or any member of his administration purposely misled the American people on prewar intelligence. . . . The flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in hindsight. But any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped or fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false. Sen. John McCain put it best: 'It is a lie to say that the president lied to the American people.' "

The unanimous conclusion of 15 separate intelligence agencies in their National Intelligence Estimate, submitted to the president in October 2002, was that Saddam Hussein's WMD constituted a real and present danger. Subsequent bipartisan investigations by the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 and the Silberman-Robb Commission in 2005 reported that the president neither distorted intelligence reports nor did he pressure intelligence agencies to reach tendentious conclusions.

In the afternoon following Cheney's Nov. 21 speech, here's how it was reported by Jack Cafferty on CNN's The Situation Room: ". . . if you dare question the use of prewar intelligence, according to that speech this morning, you are dishonest and reprehensible."

Outrageous! This is liberal media bias on stilts. Cafferty blatantly duplicated the very same distortion of an earlier Cheney speech that the vice president had specifically made a point of correcting. Cheney's distinction between what he believed was legitimate and illegitimate criticism couldn't have been clearer. Cafferty is either dense or shameless.

So, what's new? Bush-haters have a repertoire of shifty theatrical tactics. One is to feign outrage at make-believe attacks on their "patriotism." When the administration defends itself and challenges the claims of certain critics, the critics will falsely claim that their patriotism has been impugned. By this device, critics hope to discredit and discourage criticism of their criticism. No one in the White House questioned Rep. John Murtha's patriotism, just his judgment.

Another canard is the misuse of the "L-word." "Bush lied" has become a mantra and an outright obsession with Bush-haters, repeated endlessly in the titles of a spate of books by the likes of Al Franken (Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them), Joe Conason, Robert Scheer and other lefties. I believe this to be a backlash rooted in their resentment and anger over the downfall of the Clinton presidency. So they labor to turn the tables and take out their visceral revenge on Bush by branding him a "liar."

In Clinton's case, however, he was caught in blatant lies while under oath in a deposition, for which he suffered official discipline in a court of law. While his sexual exploits may have been of far less import than the current debate over the nation's foreign policy, the inescapable point is that it's flatly intolerable for the president of the United States - the attorney general's boss - to lie under oath about anything.

All politicians, including presidents, spin and embellish but a lie is defined as a willful falsehood. Simply being mistaken is not a lie. Clinton lied. At worst, Bush was misinformed. We now know the intelligence about Saddam's WMD was faulty, but a bevy of liberals from Bill Clinton to Ted Kennedy to Hillary Clinton also believed it and said so publicly. By definition, no one who believed the intelligence - not Bush or Kennedy or the Clintons - was guilty of lying.

Mike Rosen's radio show airs daily from 9 a.m. to noon on 850 KOA.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 850am; airamerica; alfranken; billclinton; bushlied; cheney; cia; cnn; conservativetalkshow; dickcheney; gwot; hillary; hillaryclinton; iraq; iraqifreedom; johnkerry; johnmccain; johnmurtha; kerry; koa; liberalmedia; lmsm; lyingliars; mikerosen; military; msm; murtha; prewarintelligence; rockymountainnews; rosen; talkradio; terrorism; terrorists; victorystrategy; wmd; wot
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About Mike Rosen
Mike Rosen hosts Denver's most popular local radio talk show on 850 KOA. He holds an MBA degree from the University of Denver, was a corporate finance executive at Samsonite and Beatrice Foods, served as Special Assistant for Financial Management to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy at the Pentagon and is a veteran of the U.S. Army. He's traveled extensively in Europe, the Far East, Latin America, southern Africa and the former Soviet Union. Mike grew up in New York and has lived in Colorado for over 30 years.

Mike Rosen's webpage at 850am KOA: http://www.850koa.com/shows/rosen/index.html

1 posted on 12/02/2005 2:57:52 AM PST by ajolympian2004
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To: ajolympian2004
Cafferty is either dense or shameless

I'll take dense for $200 Alex.

Whhooopeeee, it's the daily double! Dense and shameless!

2 posted on 12/02/2005 3:13:06 AM PST by strange1 ("Show the enemy harm so he shall not advance" Sun Tzu The Art of War)
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To: ajolympian2004

This is a good thing. The more the media lies and misrepresents, the less relevance they have and the more people will turn to alternative sources for their news.


3 posted on 12/02/2005 3:27:05 AM PST by Peach (The Clintons pardoned more terrorists than they ever captured or killed.)
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To: strange1

Rosen is right, but it is also deeper than he says. If Bush and Cheney did not lie, then the Democrat mantra of "they all do it" falls apart.

Clinton is given a pass by Democrats because he lied but they assume Republicans do that as well. So Clinton's lies are not as bad by comparison.

If Bush and Cheney have not lied, then the whole Impeach Bush and Cheney effort fails too. Democrats believe Clinton lied about sex and Bush/Cheney are lying about national security, the WOT and Iraq.


4 posted on 12/02/2005 3:35:08 AM PST by Morgan in Denver
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To: ajolympian2004
Situation room Email:

http://edition.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5.html?65

5 posted on 12/02/2005 3:45:35 AM PST by ncountylee (Dead terrorists smell like victory)
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To: ajolympian2004
We now know the intelligence about Saddam's WMD was faulty

I don't know that we know that.

6 posted on 12/02/2005 3:47:30 AM PST by stevem
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To: ajolympian2004

Yea, Dick! Hit 'em again, HARDer!


7 posted on 12/02/2005 3:51:16 AM PST by RoadTest (Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.)
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To: ajolympian2004

Did anybody else catch Fox News Sunday? Chris Wallace was grilling Sen. Carl Levin, Dim, Mich.
Levin would accuse President Bush of a lie, Wallace would play the tape of what the President really said, and then Levin would repeat his lie about the President lying. Even when confronted with the truth, Levin kept repeating his lies.
I think Micheal Savage is right: Liberalism is a mental disorder.


8 posted on 12/02/2005 3:56:45 AM PST by wolfpat (To, Two, Too: Learn the difference.)
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To: wolfpat
Did anybody else catch Fox News Sunday? Chris Wallace was grilling Sen. Carl Levin, Dim, Mich.

Levin would accuse President Bush of a lie, Wallace would play the tape of what the President really said, and then Levin would repeat his lie about the President lying. Even when confronted with the truth, Levin kept repeating his lies.

I think Micheal Savage is right: Liberalism is a mental disorder.

Carl Levin interview by Chris Wallace video here:

http://thepoliticalteen.net/2005/11/27/wallacelevin/

9 posted on 12/02/2005 4:06:22 AM PST by ajolympian2004
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To: Morgan in Denver

The MSMNews is nothing more than a 24/7 PR operation committed to global-socialism... the Democrat party is simply their tool in America to achieve it.


10 posted on 12/02/2005 4:12:47 AM PST by johnny7 (“You have a corpse in a car, minus a head, in the garage. Take me to it.”)
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To: ajolympian2004
Many have forgotten the original outcry against the war.

Why go to war against Iraq when it's North Korea who is a danger.

Suggesting we ought to be going to war against North Korea!

The dishonesty on the left has truly turned into insanity.

11 posted on 12/02/2005 4:18:48 AM PST by OldFriend (The Dems enABLEd DANGER and 3,000 Americans died.)
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To: ajolympian2004

I recently had the misfortune of viewing CNN while waiting for auto maintenance. I think the last time I watched it was during the Clinton years.

The blatant, unremitting Bush bashing was phenomenal. When reporting the Naval Academy speech, the banner at the bottom of the screen read "Bush In A Bubble". The next segment slammed him for speaking to military audiences. On and on. Given the hostility of CNN, AP, NYT, LAT and the alphabet nightly news, it is a wonder that President's polling numbers are as high as they are.


12 posted on 12/02/2005 4:18:53 AM PST by Jacquerie (Democrats soil institutions)
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To: johnny7

By now it's clear that the MSM does nothing more than regurgitate whatever arrives from the DNC fax line.


13 posted on 12/02/2005 4:20:15 AM PST by OldFriend (The Dems enABLEd DANGER and 3,000 Americans died.)
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To: OldFriend
...and the DNC gets their faxes from MoveOn.org... The Daily Kos and The Nation. All the right has is 60% of the commentary spouted on FOXNews.

The game is rigged... yet we continue to play it.

14 posted on 12/02/2005 4:35:28 AM PST by johnny7 (“You have a corpse in a car, minus a head, in the garage. Take me to it.”)
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To: johnny7
Even FNC considers demonrat weighted polls as news.

They all have gotten lazy.

Brit is all we have!

15 posted on 12/02/2005 4:40:52 AM PST by OldFriend (The Dems enABLEd DANGER and 3,000 Americans died.)
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To: Morgan in Denver

****Democrats believe Clinton lied about sex and Bush/Cheney are lying about national security, the WOT and Iraq.****

I believe you are wrong.
The Democrats do not believe Bush/Cheney are lying. They know for certain that isnt a fact.
The Democrats are making false charges, and they know it.
That makes them traitors. Yes and Murtha is a traitor too. I DO doubt his patriotism.
I believe they are loyal to the Democrat party and its lust for power. not to this country.


16 posted on 12/02/2005 4:47:38 AM PST by sgtbono2002
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To: sgtbono2002
One of my biggest problems is the lack of fight in republican circles...the Democraps are going to howl about the mean republicans anyway...lets see everyone on our side call them on it..

I don't watch Chris Wallace any time he has on people like levin but I watched this clip...I'm surprised Chris hit him so hard...why don't the Republicans do the same thing???
17 posted on 12/02/2005 5:11:58 AM PST by conservativehusker (GO BIG RED!!!!)
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To: ajolympian2004

bump


18 posted on 12/02/2005 5:29:13 AM PST by randog (What the....?!)
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To: johnny7

I don't buy the media controling the Democrats, they don't have to. They both have similar goals so they just fit together well.


19 posted on 12/02/2005 5:49:29 AM PST by Morgan in Denver
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To: conservativehusker

I wrote to a fellow on the local RNC last night about a story coming from a Republican senator that republicans were leaving the party because the party wasnt Conservative enough.
I filled his ear that republicans are fed up with the party because we worked hard to get Republicans in the majority and they are blowing it. What good is a majority if the people who have it havent got the brains or the courage to use it.
Frist is a waste.McCain and others like him suck. None of them have enough balls to stand with our President.And the President stands with an asswipe like Spectre.

How can they have the nerve to ask Republicans to send money to elect a mess like this?


20 posted on 12/02/2005 5:52:08 AM PST by sgtbono2002
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