Sometimes I want to think of George Will as being better than the utter liars who control the Republican party. Then I read his columns and realize I'm being far too Christian.
In today's column, Will sticks up for hurt puppy George Bush whose manhood was threatened recently by meeting Senator-elect Jim Webb (D-VA). You'll recall that Bush asked Webb how his son, a US service member in Iraq, was doing, and Webb said he'd like his son home. Bush then got real snippy with Webb and told him, that's what not what I asked you. Webb says he was furious with Bush's retort.
Nice comment to make to a father who, during the Christmas season, says he misses his son. That's not what I asked you. Real classy.
But you won't read about Bush's snippy and calloused remark in George Will's lengthy op ed about the incident in today's Washington Post, an article syndicated around the country. Oh no. Will and his editors somehow conveniently left that little fact out, the most important fact of the entire story, so the story reads as though Bush simply inquired about how Webb's son was doing, and Web got pissed off.
Here's how George Will and his editors portrayed the story:
When Bush asked Webb, whose son is a Marine in Iraq, "How's your boy?" Webb replied, "I'd like to get them [sic] out of Iraq." When the president again asked "How's your boy?" Webb replied, "That's between me and my boy."
Makes Webb sound mighty mean, if you didn't know that Bush just got snippy with him. Now read the original source to find out what really happened:
At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.
Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.
“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.
Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t.
But George Will couldn't defend the honor of our totally emasculated president by telling you all the truth, so he had to do with a lie.
George Will, unfortunately, is no different than any other Republican in Washington. When caught between the truth and a lie, as Mae West once didn't say, but could have, they always choose the lie they haven't tried.
