Ethics

Mukasey's Lies About FISA

By Ed Brayton

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
HL Mencken

One of the primary reasons that alternative media outlets like the Michigan Messenger exist is because the mainstream media seems to have a terrible time stating a simple truth, no matter how well supported or easily proven it may be. Far too many newspapers, magazines and TV pundit shows opperate on the premise that in order to be "balanced" or "objective" they must present the claims of two opposing sides and not take a stand on which side is telling the truth, even when the truth is, to borrow a hackneyed old phrase, as plain as the nose on their face. Because I disagree with that premise, let me counter it with this plain and simple statement: the Bush administration is lying to you.

That will come as a shock to few, of course; every government lies to its constituents and anyone who doubts that is hopelessly naive. But the lies coming from this administration about warrantless wiretaps, terrorism and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) elevate mendacity and arrogance to an art form. Hardly a day goes by without some new blatant falsehood escaping the lips of an administration official, falsehoods that are easily checked up on by any reporter -- or for that matter, any citizen -- with the ability to do a google search. Allow me to demonstrate.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on April 01, 2008 (boomark / email).