'Wash Times' Columnist Uses Fabricated Abraham Lincoln Quote

[Newsjock]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003545478

The drive by some political and military figures -- and pundits -- to paint those who oppose the war in Iraq as traitors or at least not supporting the troops has hit another low, with a Washington Times columnist trumpeting an incendiary quote from Abraham Lincoln shown to be a fabrication last year.

Frank Gaffney, Jr. opened his latest column with this: "Congressmen who willfully take actions during wartime that damage morale and undermine the military are saboteurs and should be arrested, exiled, or hanged." — President Abraham Lincoln.

He continues: "It is, of course, unimaginable that the penalties proposed by one of our most admired presidents for the crime of dividing America in the face of the enemy would be contemplated — let alone applied — today. Still, as the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate engage in interminable debate about resolutions whose effects can only be to 'damage morale and undermine the military' while emboldening our enemies, it is time to reflect on what constitutes inappropriate behavior in time of war."

One problem: Lincoln never said it.

[bemildred]

1. Doesn't even sound like Abe.

More proof that the punditry are mostly illiterate, lying weasels.

[Straight Shooter]

22. That was my first thought. Definitely not the language cadence of Lincoln's times, either. n/t

[Selteri]

2. Playbook - If you cna't use the truth, make it up

Then rely upon followers to be too intellectually lazy or just plain stupid to actually know their quotes or think for themselves enough to question the quote or article. It's just more of the same old same old.

[rodeodance]

3. J. Michael Waller, concedes that the words are his, not Lincoln's.

......
Brooks Jackson at FactCheck.org, the Annenberg Public Policy Center group, studied the sudden appearance of the quote last August. Why? He had found that his Web search "brought up more than 18,000 references to it."

He reported: "Supporters of President Bush and the war in Iraq often quote Abraham Lincoln as saying members of Congress who act to damage military morale in wartime 'are saboteurs, and should be arrested, exiled or hanged.'

"Republican candidate Diana Irey used the 'quote' recently in her campaign against Democratic Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, and it has appeared thousands of times on the Internet, in newspaper articles and letters to the editor, and in Republican speeches.

"But Lincoln never said that. The conservative author who touched off the misquotation frenzy, J. Michael Waller, concedes that the words are his, not Lincoln's. Waller says he never meant to put quote marks around them, and blames an editor for the mistake and the failure to correct it. We also note other serious historical errors in the Waller article containing the bogus quote."

Jackson later provided this update: "Candidate Irey retracted the quote and apologized hours after this article appeared."

[Paranoid Pessimist]

32. Not only were the quote marks an accident, but . . .

he "accidentally" added the -- Abraham Lincoln. His fingers slipped and fumbled. He certainly never meant to mislead.

[Buzz Clik]

It's interesting that it is hard to find a solid debunking of that quote....

[C_U_L8R]

4. Isn't there some kind of Association of Journalists

who should be drumming these liars out of the business ???

The news is a joke. Reporters are untrustworthy.
Y'all better get you act together or your gonna find yourself without readers.

[SteppingRazor]

23. There are multiple professional journalist orgs...

but none of them have any teeth. Journalism is not a profession in the same sense as law or medicine. There is no "license to practice journalism" that can be revoked, resulting in a person's inability to be hired by a newspaper or magazine.

You mentioned the possibility of lost readers and, indeed, that is the main way in which these inaccuracies are dealt with. Loss of credibility — if it occurs frequently — means loss of readership. At least, that's what one would hope.

[Phredicles]

5. I never even heard of anyone claiming Lincoln said that before;

A few years ago my Mom gave me a book called "They Never Said It", which is all about statements wrongly attributed to famous individuals. I'm pretty sure that isn't in there, which makes me think it's a new one.

Of course, attributing your nasty little thoughts to someone great is an easy way to confer an unearned legitimacy upon them. Observe:

Frank Gaffney Jr. is a tremendous douchebucket. -- George Washington.:P

[elocs]

48. "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism". Thomas Jefferson

That quote is one of ours, so really everybody does what suits them, deliberate or otherwise. That quote is from historian Howard Zinn and not from Jefferson. I have pointed that out to people who have used it, but many do not care and still attribute it to Jefferson. Somehow, attributing a quote to a Founding Father, great president, or a famous person gives it more credence and makes it more valid. Many are guilty of it.

[OneAngryDemocrat]

6. ''You can fool some of the people all of the time...''

''You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.''
~ Abraham Lincoln,16th president of US (1809 - 1865)

Please visit my anti-war website, www.shockedandawful.com

[Felinity]

7. Is that really a Lincoln quote?

I am surprised, or am I supposed to know better? I've heard it so many times and I thought it dated from the 1920's. Please inform.

[OKNancy]

9. No, PT Barnum

according to Spofford

You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
Author: Phineas T. Barnum
Source: often attributed to Lincoln but denied by Spofford
http://www.worldofquotes.com/topic/Deceit/index.html

Spofford was appointed as Librarian of Congress by Lincoln
http://www.reference.com/browse/wiki/Ainsworth_Rand_Spofford

[Felinity]

12. Thanks, my head was spinning.

I was thinking maybe Will Rogers. But Lincoln? A little cynical & pithy for that time period.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. Oxford Dictionary of Quotations thinks Lincoln, but "also attributed to Barnum"

19. You may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time.
(also attributed to Phineas Barnum)

Alexander K. McClure Lincoln's Yarns and Stories (1904)

And my Chamber's Dictionary of Quotations specifies a time and date for Lincoln saying it:

You can fool some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.

1858, Speech, Clinton, 8 Sep.

though it's slightly suspicious that 'may' and 'can' get switched, and 'even' only appears in one, and the Chamber's version starts "some ... some" - which isn't so meaningful.

[Tracer]

11. This quote gets attributed to Lincoln all the time ...

... but I'm sure that it was said by P.T. Barnum.

[montanto]

39. great website, recommending to my students. nt

[tabasco]

8. Lincoln was a strong opponent of unjust wars.

Lincoln introduced a resolution in Congress during the Mexican War demanding that the Democrats provide the exact justification for starting the war "in specific detail..." Lincoln was a very strong opponent of the Mexican War. But republicans forget true history and make up their own. The sad part is that there are millions of people stupid enough to believe their lies.

on edit: http://tinyurl.com/yr7b4m

[JDPriestly]

51. Lincoln in the U.S. House of Representatives on the War with Mexico

"Mr Chairman:

Some, if not all the gentlemen on, the other side of the House, who have addressed the committee within the last two days, have spoken rather complainingly, if I have rightly understood them, of the vote given a week or ten days ago, declaring that the war with Mexico was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally commenced by the President. I admit that such a vote should not be given, in mere party wantonness, and that the one given, is justly censurable, if it have not other, or better foundation. I am one of those who joined in that vote; and I did so under my best impression of the truth (emphasis omitted) of the case. How I got this impression, and how it may possibly be removed, I will not try to show. When the war began, it was my opinion that all those who, because of knowing too little (emphasis omitted), or because of knowing too much (emphasis omitted), could not conscientiously approve the conduct of the President, in the beginning of it, should, nevertheless, as good citizens and patriots, remain silent on that point, at least till the war should be ended. Some leading democrats , including Ex President Van Buren, have taken this same view, as I understand them; and I adhered to it, and acted upon it, until since I took my seat here; and I think I should still adhere to it, were it not that the president and his friends will not allow it to be so. Besides the continual effort of the President to argue every silent vote given for supplies, into an endorsement of the justice and wisdom of his conduct -- besides that singularly candid paragraph, in his late message in which he tells us that Congress with great unanimity, only two in the Senate and fourteen in the House dissenting, had declared that, 'by the act of the Republic of Mexico, a state of war exists between that Government and the United States,' when the same journals that informed him of this, also informed him, that when that declaration stood disconnected from the question of supplies, sixtyseven in the House, and not fourteen merely voted against it-- besides this open attempt to prove, by telling the truth (emphasis omitted), what he could not prove by telling the whole truth (emphasis omitted) -- demanding of all who will not submit to be misrepresented, in justice to themselves, to speak out -- besides all this, one of my colleagues (Mr. Richardson) at a very early day in the session brought in a set of resolutions, expressly endorsing the original justice of the war on the part of the President. Upon these resolutions, when they shall be put on on their passage I shall be compelled (emphasis omitted) to vote; so that I can not be silent, if I would. Seeing this, I went about preparing myself to give the vote understandingly when it should come. I carefully examined the President's messages, to ascertain what he himself had said and proved upon the point. The result of this examination was to make the impression, that taking for true, all the president states as facts, he falls far short of proving his justification; and that the President would have gone farther with his proof, if it had not been for the small matter that the truth (emphasis omitted) would not permit him.

. . . .

Again, it is a singular omission in this message, that it, no where intimates when (emphasis omitted) the President expects the war to terminate. At it's beginning, Genl. Scott was, by this same president, driven into disfavor, if not disgrace, for intimating that peace could not be conquered in less than three or four months. But now, at the end of about twenty months, during which time our arms have given us the most splendid successes -- every department, and every part, land and water, officers and privates, regulars and volunteers, doing all that men could (emphasis omitted) do, and hundreds of things which it had ever been thought men could not (emphasis omitted) do, -- after all this, this same President gives us a long message, without showing us, that, as to the end (emphasis omitted), he himself, has even an immaginary conception. As I have before said, he knows not where he is. He is a bewildered, confounded, and miserably perplexed man. God grant he may be able to show, there is not something about his conscience, more painful than all his mental perplexity.

January 12, 1848
Abraham Lincoln

It's very long and very interesting. See Lincoln Speeches, Letters, Miscellaneous Writings The Lincoln-Douglas Debates, Speeches and Writings 1832-1858, Library of America (1989) at page 161-171

[Tin Man]

10. Has anybody else noticed a broader meme comparing Bush to Lincoln?

..it's been pretty blatant in my eyes.
Not to mention ridiculous.

[louis-t]

25. Speaking of popular presidents....

AARP Bulletin had a poll about this. They divided it into "Overall" and "50 plus" age groups. I don't know who was polled-maybe AARP members. Who was the most popular overall? Clinton, by a long shot with 23%. Kennedy in the 50 plus age group. Current dumbass had 5% in both. Second lowest out of 7.

[earthside]

13. "Frank Gaffney, Jr. is an idiot."

George Washington said it ... in 1799.

I'm serious, he said it.

[C_U_L8R]

17. At least Washington cannot tell a lie

How far we have strayed.

[Luminous Animal]

Contact info for the Times...

As them to retract their fake Lincoln quote here:

http://washingtontimes.com/contact-us/

Glenn Greenwald at Unclaimed Territory
has this and much more... (emphasis mine):

The idea that war opponents were committing treason by virtue of marching against the invasion of Iraq -- or that Senators who currently criticize the war should be treated as traitors -- is as repugnant to our political values and as radical and dangerous as anything which, say, the widely discredited Joe McCarthy ever urged. Yet the individuals who have argued, and continue to argue, for such un-American abridgements of basic liberties are not castigated or scorned at all, but instead continue to occupy perfectly respectable positions in what is deemed to be the mainstream.

[redqueen]

20. Thank you. May not do much good, but it's still worth the effort to try. n/t

[fidgeting wildly]

15. Truthiness at work!

Just repeat something often enough, and it eventually becomes true. That's the Republican MO.

[happyslug]

16. Lincoln NEVER fought Congress, he acted as Congress's Agent through the Civil War

Now except for the Revolution and the Civil War, Presidents have tended to run Wars with Congress providing aid. The Revolution is the Big exception for CONGRESS ran the war for we had NO PRESIDENT (Washington was just a General who was appointed by Congress).

As to the Civil War, Lincoln's Secretary of War, Stanton (Who had been Buchanan's Presidential lawyer) told Lincoln he would LOSE the war if he ran it like Buchanan had (Buchanan ran it like any other PResident had, ie.. through his office). Lincoln and Stanton both agreed they HAD to have Congresses COMPLETE cooperation to win the war, thus Lincoln ran the war THROUGH Congress, refusing to do any act UNLESS CONGRESS SUPPORTED THE ACT. For Example at the start of the War, Lincoln called out the Militia and asked for Volunteers to Defend the Union, but then said such Soldiers were called into action by Him as President, SUBJECT TO APPROVAL BY CONGRESS. In fact Lincoln asked Congress to approve of his Actions, telling Congress unless they did so his acts were unconstitutional. Lincoln did this over and over again, he NEVER left Congress be able to defer to the President. If something had to be done Lincoln had Congress Confirm it (Through when it came to Suspending the Writ of Habeas Corpus, Lincoln acted without Congressional Authority, but then asked Congress for Laws on how was to hold people without Trial).

Thus the problem with this quote, Lincoln ALWAYS acted as if he was a Manager deferring to the real boss, Congress. Now Congress had to be appeased, for example it was NOT uncommon for General Officers to be picked based whose Congressional District they were in (For Example Grant's promotion to Brigadier General was one of four made at the same time, his coming from the fact, while a Democrat at the time, he was from the GOP Speaker of the House Congressional District, even Grant said it was to get something for someone in the Speaker's District). Politicians with strong supporters in Congress were often promoted and then placed in places to do the least harm (if incompetent officers, if Competent given real Commands, an example of the Former was Benjamin Butler, of the later Terry, both pre-war State Politicians, most such officers were Competent but NOT outstanding, causing no harm).

Lincoln also made sure the State Legislatures were involved. One of the differences between the Union Army and the Confederate Army was that the South kept reinforcing old units, while the North kept on Creating new units. In the North this creation permitted Northern State Legislatures to make more and more officers to command the new units (Helping the Politicians in they support for the War). Now these units would slowly drop in personnel. The North handled this drop in men per regiment by brigading the Regiments in Brigades of roughly 2000 men. The Brigade may be One Regiment is 2000 men (Regiments were to have 1000 men but you did have larger Regiments), or 5 regiments whose total personnel was 2000 men (Thus Brigades were always around 2000 men, but Regiments could have anywhere from 200-1000 men each, if a regiment fell below 200 men, it was sent back home and the men used as cadre for a New Regiment of 1000 men). This was one of the methods used Congress and Lincoln Kept the Northern States in the War.

Thus why this comment makes no sense for Lincoln, Lincoln was a master politician and as such Lincoln worked with Congress never against it. Several Times he did acts as President and then forced Congress to vote to approve the act on the grounds if Congress did not he would have to UNDO the act (Lincoln would claim he HAD to undo the Act if Congress did not approve of the act for the act was unconstitutional unless Congress Approved the act). This procedural Forced Congress to support Lincoln's handling of the war (and also restricted how Lincoln Handle the war in that Congress had to be both PART of the War and the final decider of HOW the war was to be fought).

[gordianot]

18. A Moon paper.

"The Washington Times will become the instrument in spreading the truth about God to the world."

[raggedcompany]

19. Washington Times = Sun Myung Moon & Unification Church mouthpiece.

Nothing surprising about the paper getting it's facts wrong.

[DFW]

21. The line at the end of the article says it all

"Frank Gaffney, Jr. is a regular columnist for the Washington Times."

Well, no wonder.

Expecting anything else out of someone described that way is like
expecting a Nazi to be a caretaker at a synagogue.

[IWantAChange]

24. The zillionth example of Repug BizzaroWorld - facts/truth - who cares??

[louis-t]

26. Anyone who uses phony quotes or lies to go to war

should be "arrested, exiled, or hanged."

[Dudley_DUright]

27. Glenn Greenwald (Salon) has a must read blog post about this today

<snip>

Shouldn't it be considered more notable when such a well-connected figure as Gaffney -- with close relations to some of the administration's most powerful figures -- expressly accuses Senators of treason and calls their criticism a "hanging offense"? Why does advocacy of ideas this extreme provoke so little reaction, and why are advocates of such measures treated as serious and respectable political figures?

<snip>


http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/02/14/neoconservatism/index.html?source=rss

[ChairmanAgnostic]

43. thanks, I missed that earlier. A great article. nt

[cain_7777]

28. Their only viable strategy is to lie because toe to toe they can't hold water

[Jackpine Radical]

29. Well, as George Washington said,

"Those who Cause to be Published or otherwise bring into common Discourse deliberate and inflammatory Lies, partial Truths and Distortions ought be cast into Irons and flogged near unto Death in the public Commons where all might see and profit from their Lesson."

[dsharp88]

30. Hey, this is fun. Let's make up some of our own...

"Anyone who would invade Iraq under false pretenses is the anti-Christ." - Jesus Christ

"To take away the advantage of negotiating lower prescription drug prices for senior citizens would be the ultimate evil." - Jonas Salk

"If the republicans were in charge in America, I'm sure we could work together toward a common goal" - Adolph Hitler

"You creationists are right. I made the whole thing up just to bother you." - Charles Darwin

"These winters are getting colder and colder every year." - Al Gore

"Maybe I should give up this sailing nonsense and work in my father-in-law's store. After all, everyone knows the world is flat." - Christohpher Colombus

"These are people that will kill innocent men, women and children to achieve their objective." - George W. Bush. Oh, wait minute he really DID say that in today's news conference.

[Cheap_Trick]

31. jumping jeezus on a pogo stick

these fuckers just need to be lined up and shot. all of them. it's no less then they want to do to us.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

33. Gaffney is a (w)hore of a different color.

Every time I have seen him on MSM bloviating like some smug know it all, I've tried to check a fact or two of his. Either he skews a truth incredibly, or he leaves out critically important aspects of the issue.

Like most neocons, truth and he don't even have a passing relationship.

[shain from kane]

34. Gaffney is a member of the PNAC, who pushed for regime change in Iraq. He wouldn't want to see his

pet project fail, due to lack of troops fighting HIS war.


http://www.newamericancentury.org/defense-20050128.htm

[Castleman]

35. I got a quote right here for him...

"Anyone who supports an idiot President, be he journalist, Congressman or citizen of our Nation is a jackass of the lowest order"-George Washington
Hmmm...lacks bite, let's dress it up, besides, no one takes ol' George seriously, what with the lie about the cherry tree and such...
"Anyone who is a stupid enough fucker to vote Republican deserves several terms of misery, I, however, feel sorry for the bright ones who choose to vote Democrat"-FDR
"Those who vote Republican vote for misery, hardship, poverty, and pedophiles in Congress." FDR
This a FUN game! Making up quotes to support your own idiot viewpoints!
Too bad that I learned in journalism that you have to be factual.
I hope the dork is fired.
That is sooooo unethical.

[johnlal]

36. George Carlin said it!

I got a chain letter that George Carlin was attributed with that quote. You don't expect me to fact-check the media do you?

[Castleman]

37. Oh, wait, here's a better one...

"My God, I love to sodomize small children while smoking crack cocaine and listening to Mark Foley read erotic literature on my iPod!"-Frank Gaffney, Jr.
It's FUN to play with the truth!

[w4rma]

38. It must be really really hard for them to find good quotes to back up their BS with. (nt)

[RobertSeattle]

40. If Gaffney had any honor, he'd resign after this

...but then, I've answered by own assertion...

[DRoseDARs]

41. An editor at Insight magazine? Isn't that the publication that started the Obama/Madrasa smear?

Just checked, yes it is.

[Up2Late]

42. Why would this surprise anyone here? The Wash.Times fabricated the "Pelosi Demands 757" story too!

Why anyone who follows or comments on the News don't refer and/or regard to the Wash.Times as a just a Rag, Scandal Sheet, Tabloid or just "a work of Fiction," I don't know.

Why the so-called MSM doesn't just dismiss the Wash.Times? Well, I think we all know they are all in the same dishonorable boat.

[Cell Whitman]

44. WHY NOT GO ON THE OFFENSE - here's how!!!

It is obviously too late to save us from the horror Moon funded, molded, and brought to power in 2000 but do you want to cause a stir and educate your nation at the same time?

It is really your patriotic duty to do this….

The 1970s congressional investigation proposed that Moon's organization be made to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Lars Erik Nelson before he died used to ask why that never happened. Moon's former editors scream that it should be done. It would be huge, would take guts and though it likely won't happen, (it is actually too late as his media has done its major deed) but if you want to do your patriotic duty, inform the public of the influence he has had, then push for Moon's organization to be made to register under FARA. It would force a conversation this nation has put off far, far too long. A conversation which is at the heart of what happened to America the last 25 years. So even if it does not happen, it will mark Moon's media as it should have been 25 years ago, as agents of a entity that has its own agenda, to subvert our political system as James Whelan says in the quote below.

There is NO DOUBT Moon is a foreign agent, bringing in billions of overseas dollars to manipulate our political system. He brags about doing that. His daughter in law said the money is laundered into the country by the bagful. The courts in Japan say he swindles huge sums from the citizens of Japan. Moon tells his members not to consider themselves citizens of the USA or Japan or wherever but that they are citizens of Cheon Il Guk which is his one world vision, a world under his group's influence.

The USA is neither non-citizen Moon's nor his follower's first allegiance when it comes to countries.

http://www.geocities.com/craigmaxim/u-4a.html

The first is worshiping Moon. Members are encouraged twice a day (morning and night) to go to an alter they have prepared in their homes, upon which Moon and His Wife's pictures rest. They are to recite a Pledge of obedience to The True Parents (Moon and his Wife) and to the Fatherland which is Korea, regardless of which country the member is a citizen of, and then they are to face the picture of Moon and bow to it three times.

Why not push for the WT to register under FARA now? Sure, Moon's media has already brought these freaks to power over the last 25 years, and he could sell his media, it has done its job. But at least it may make TV actually say Moon's name, something they won't do. It would possibly make it to where the people in this country actually find out WHO has pushed the right and the Republican Party into their extremist cult like funk.

Here is a quote from James Whelan, the first editor of the WT from a panel discussion in 1991 with three former Moon media editors. I strongly suggest you watch it. It is called "Cults in the Media" but it is 99% about Moon, the Washington Times and why it should be made to register under FARA.


http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9008719207533458404&hl=en

They (the Moonies) are subverting our political system. They're doing it through front organizations--most of them disguised--and through their funding of independent organizations--through the placement of volunteers in the inner sanctums of hard-pressed organizations. In every instance-- in every instance--those who attend their conferences, those who accept their money or their volunteers, delude themselves that there is no loss of virtue because the Moonies have not proselytized. That misses the central, crucial point: the Moonies are a political movement in religious clothing. Moon seeks power, not the salvation of souls. To achieve that, he needs religious fanatics as his palace guard and shock troops. But more importantly, he needs secular conscripts--seduced by money, free trips, free services, seemingly endless bounty and booty--in order to give him respectability and, with it, that image of influence which translates as power.

Thing is, Moon's followers know exactly how they are involved in manipulating our system, they know what "Father's projects" are for....why can't the American public be in on it also?

[Amonester]

52. Thanks for posting. Here's to all our newly registered DU friends:

the Korean crooks being crowned inside the U.S. Congress, no less... :grr:

[Patchuli]

54. I remember that

Who were the asshats in charge of that farce and do they realize that we do not recognize royalty (sic) in this democracy?

[Amonester]

56. The farce was not a farce for the a$$hat$ in charge of that farce.

And since it was nowhere reported by their M$M sheep...

Imagine that on teevee? No.

They do their dirty deed$ in $ecret.

[xxqqqzme]

45. ra-row - I hear a 'Worst Person in the World'

creeping up on the frankster.

[HughMoran]

46. What a moran

Why can't RWers stop lying anyway?

[Jack Rabbit]

47. Frank Gaffney? A leading neoconservative? Lie to us?

I'm shocked -- shocked, I say.


Claude Rains at Captain Renault in the motion picture Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, 1943)
from Celebrity Frame

[culturalelite]

49. just the opposite

As a Congressman Lincoln criticized the Mexican-American War right at its outset. He even said that the President usurped Congress' power to dclare war by going to war without Congressional authorization. If only we had more Lincolns in Congress these days

[BeachBuckeye]

50. They've been using this for over 4 years

And, even though its been proven to be a lie, they will keep right on using it.

[Amonester]

53. And it's been proven over and over again: the more they lie,

the longer they keep on using it, the more they lose!

I say let them losers keep Right on using it.

They R too stupid to realize it causes their own demise...

[NovaNardis]

55. It's the Bush Doctrine 2.0

When it doubt, make shit up.

Though to be fair, this is almost an urban-legend-esque quote floating around the internets. Kinda like "It's not pollution that's harming our environment. It's the impurtites in our air and water that are doing it." (Funny Anecdote - I nailed the conservative paper on campus to the wall for attributing that to Al Gore. I thought Bush said it. Then realized it was just Mad Mag. ;))

Anyway. It's not like the guy made it up whole cloth. Come now, we can't expect "journalists" to fact check. Wikipedia is a good enough soruce...

[qnr]

57. It reminds me of that famous quote by George Washington:

"Frank Gaffney Jr. is a tremendous douchebucket."

[Judi Lynn]

59. Wow! I've seen that one many times! George Washington! Amazing.

Ah, ha ha ha ha. What an ass. Does this look stupid, or WHAT?????

And he can dance for Abraham Lincoln, too!

[connecticut yankee]

58. As my dear Mother used to say --

"What they don't know, they make up."

[Nevernever]

60. Given that it was the Moonie Times that "misquoted" Lincoln,

why is everone so surprised that it was a lie?

I like the "I never meant to put quote marks around the speech" part!!!! Priceless!

[DeeDeeNY]

61. Update

Yesterday the stupid Rep. from Alaska quoted this on the House floor during the "debate" on the nonbinding resolution!
:banghead:

[Zambero]

62. Using fabricated quotes to prop up a fabricated war

We're getting mighty close to Nazi Germany here. The gist of this column is that Congress's duty to exercise oversight is in fact treasonous, and that whatever actions the executive branch decides to take, even if based on it's own false and misleading intelligence, should proceed unchallenged. Or else, off with the heads of the "naysayers". Nice little oppressive dictatorship scenario there. Checks and balances as specified in the Constitution? Hogwash! Stalin and Hitler would be proud.