Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Don't Let The Facts Get In The Way of a Good Accusation

John Aravosis is a very pleasant guy when we're off-camera before our irregular CNN appearances, but he's completely out of left field in his post on Petraeus' testimony, calling the general "a liar," a "PR man," "sickeningly career-obsessed" and accusing him of choosing "September 11 as a publicity stunt."

Look, Ramesh reported that the Democrats picked the date, and the Washington Post confirmed that Congressional Democrats are calling it "simply a scheduling coincidence." If Harry Reid and Carl Levin wanted a different date, it would be a different date. Lefty bloggers who are up in arms about the date should take it up with the Democratic Congressional leadership instead of blaming Petraeus.

UPDATE: By the way, the overheated rhetoric, damning Petraeus before he speaks, tends to ignore bits of news like this:

Like many other Republicans, LoBiondo said he awaits a report due from Petraeus next month before deciding on a stand about the future of U.S. involvement.

While in Baghdad, LoBiondo said he asked Petraeus about fears the White House would "scrub" the report clean of unwelcome news.

"He looked right in my eyes and said, "I will resign before I allow that to happen,'" LoBiondo said. "I felt a sense of relief."

But I guess if you've concluded Petraeus is a liar about Iraq, I guess you'll have no problem concluding he would lie about resisting a "scrub."

08/22 09:36 AMShare