Wednesday, November 23, 2005

A handy tip: If you're going to selectively quote, don't include the source links

Newsbuster Ian Schwartz is well on his way to becoming a fully certified disinformation warrior.
Jack Cafferty Deliberately Misquotes and Attacks Cheney

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Why, thank you, Wolf. It's getting ugly out there. According to Vice President Cheney, if you question, if you dare question the use of pre-war intelligence, according to that speech this morning, you are dishonest and reprehensible.[orig emph]
Schwartz cries foul, claiming that "Cheney said the complete opposite." As proof, he presents an excerpt from Cheney's speech, one ending with this statement:
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.
Well, that's very nice, isn't it. Except that Cheney is talking about how wonderfully democratic it is to discuss the war on terror. He's not talking about the war in Iraq or pre-war intelligence — something he does a few paragraphs down in the White House transcript.
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 pre-war intelligence. [emph added]
You have to give credit where credit is due: Schwartz selectively quotes Cheney's speech to buttress his bogus charge that Cafferty misquoted Cheney, which is technically impossible since Cafferty doesn't quote Cheney at all. And to make it all perfectly clear, Schwartz emphatically claims that "Cheney said the exact opposite," which of course he didn't.

Next time, Ian, don't include the source links. It just makes it too easy to double-check.

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