Wednesday, March 29, 2006

So difficult to keep the lies straight

Today Vice President Dick Cheney did an interview with talk radio host (and substitute Fox News anchor) Tony Snow. The transcript is a laugh if only because if you took out the labels for when a question is being asked or answered, it would be impossible to tell which is which. But then Tony set up the Veep with a straight-down-the middle fastball -- but Dick swung and missed:

Q I want to be clear because I've heard you say this, and I've heard the President say it, but I want you to say it for my listeners, which is that the White House has never argued that Saddam was directly involved in September 11th, correct?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: That's correct. We had one report early on from another intelligence service that suggested that the lead hijacker, Mohamed Atta, had met with Iraqi intelligence officials in Prague, Czechoslovakia. And that reporting waxed and waned where the degree of confidence in it, and so forth, has been pretty well knocked down now at this stage, that that meeting ever took place. So we've never made the case, or argued the case that somehow Osama bin Laden [sic] was directly involved in 9/11.


Snow, or someone on his production team, was alert enough to catch it:

Q Okay. A couple of things, I think a couple of minutes ago -- I want to make sure -- you said Osama bin Laden wasn't involved in 9/11 planning. You meant Saddam Hussein, correct? That Saddam Hussein was not involved in September 11th?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Correct. Yes, sir.

Q Okay.

THE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Thanks for straightening that out. I didn't realize I'd done that. (Laughter.)


Why would you have Dick -- it's second nature. And by the way, "THE PRESIDENT CHENEY" is exactly what the transcript currently says. It's gaffes all round today.

UPDATE: Even a day later, and with the visibility of links to us from Dan Froomkin and Firedoglake highlighting the mistake in the transcript, still no correction.

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