OPINION:
Fox News political analyst Brit Hume, a Beltway veteran, responded on Twitter: “OMG, Jay Carney speaks of Republican demands to collapse the world economy. Politics ain’t beanbag, but such outright mendacity is rare.”
I disagree with Mr. Hume’s “mendacity is rare” assessment. Mr. Carney’s mendacity doesn’t even come close to the gold standard of political lies established during the last Bush administration. In the past decade, many prominent Democrats, who were on the public record as saying that Iraq’s Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction did a complete reversal, saying President Bush “lied” us into an “unnecessary,” “illegal,” “immoral” and “unjust” war of liberation, self-defense and treaty enforcement.
As bad and disingenuous as Mr. Carney’s rhetoric is, it pales in comparison to the “Bush lied” whopper the Democrats foisted on us in the past decade. A 44-year Washington insider such as Mr. Hume should be able to make that distinction.
How do most people, including Mr. Hume, overlook this grievous charge against Mr. Bush, the worst ever levied against an American president? No one ever lifted a legislative finger to impeach or prosecute Mr. Bush, so surely they knew the charges were nonsense.
As I write this, this “Bush lied” charge has still not yet been resolved. Ultimately, the way it is depicted in next-generation history books is going to depend upon the people doing the writing. It is crystal clear to me that this was the most comprehensive political smear campaign in history, but I’m not so certain it’s going to be told that way.
EUGENE DUNN
Medford, N.Y.
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