Reply #20: Only in the mind of an apologist, from 2003 [View All]

[ProSense]

He Said, He Said; Bush May Have Exaggerated, but Did He Lie?

By DAVID E. ROSENBAUM
Published: June 22, 2003

THE hunt for chemical, biological and nuclear weapons in Iraq has been fruitless. The tax cut turns out to give no break whatsoever to millions of low-income taxpayers. In the view of some Democrats, President Bush has been lying about these and other matters, the way Lyndon B. Johnson lied about Vietnam, Richard M. Nixon about Watergate and Bill Clinton about his sex life.

For instance, Senator Bob Graham of Florida, the former chairman of the Intelligence Committee and a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, accused Mr. Bush of ''a pattern of deception and deceit'' on Iraq.

An antiwar organization, MoveOn.org, ran a full-page advertisement in The New York Times last week suggesting that ''young men and women were sent to die for a lie.''

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research group, said of Mr. Bush's statement that all income tax payers would benefit from his tax cut, ''Such claims are not accurate.''

In fact, a review of the president's public statements found little that could lead to a conclusion that the president actually lied on either subject. But more pertinent than whether the president told the literal truth is what factors he stressed and which ones he played down.

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