I had been toying with the idea of a thread about the single biggest lie the Bushiviks have told (relative to Iraq, for the sake of brevity). But that is rendered moot, I think. Ramblin’ Rummy has taken the cake, has rung the bell, and brought down the curtain. Is any competition possible now, short of reading The Protocols of the Elders of Zion into the Congressional Record?
http://www.starbanner.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2003211090375
"In the lead-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said U.S. forces would be welcomed by the Iraqi citizenry and that Saddam Hussein had large stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.
Now, after both statements have been shown to be either incorrect or vastly exaggerated, Rumsfeld - with the same trademark confidence that he exuded before the war - is denying that he ever made such assertions."
[znip]
"For example, on Feb. 20, a month before the invasion, Rumsfeld fielded a question about whether Americans would be greeted as liberators if they invaded Iraq.
“Do you expect the invasion, if it comes, to be welcomed by the majority of the civilian population of Iraq?” Jim Lehrer asked the defense secretary on PBS’ “The News Hour.”
“There is no question but that they would be welcomed,” Rumsfeld replied, referring to American forces. “Go back to Afghanistan, the people were in the streets playing music, cheering, flying kites, and doing all the things that the Taliban and the al-Qaeda would not let them do.” "
[znip]
"But on Sept. 25, -… Rumsfeld was asked about the surging resistance.
“Before the war in Iraq, you stated the case very eloquently and you said . . . they would welcome us with open arms,” Sinclair Broadcasting anchor Morris Jones said to Rumsfeld as the prelude to a question.
The defense chief quickly cut him off.
“Never said that,” he said. “Never did. You may remember it well, but you’re thinking of somebody else. You can’t find, anywhere, me saying anything like either of those two things you just said I said.” "
Had enough? So have I, doesn’t mean they stop serving.
“When testifying about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction before the House Armed Services Committee Sept. 18, 2002, Rumsfeld said Saddam “has amassed large clandestine stocks of biological weapons.” including anthrax and botulism toxin and possibly smallpox. His regime has amassed large clandestine stockpiles of chemical weapons, including VX and sarin and mustard gas.”
[znip]
"A reporter at a Pentagon news conference asked: “In retrospect, were you a little too far-leaning in your statement that Iraq categorically had caches of weapons, of chemical and biological weapons, given what’s been found to date? You painted a picture of extensive stocks” of Iraqi mass-killing weapons.
“Wait,” Rumsfeld interjected. “You go back and give me something that talks about extensive stocks. The U.N. reported extensive stocks. That is where that came from. I said what I believed to be the case, and I don’t - I’d be surprised if you found the word 'extensive.”’
Does “large” mean something other than “extensive”?
So, at any rate, afraid we may have to cancel the contest. I really don’t see anyone topping this, when it comes to bald-faced, flat-footed lying through the teeth…
I open the floor to other candidates, but I think we can safely move to a voice vote with considerable hope for unanimity. The 2003 Richard M. Nixon Award for Wholesale Mendacity will then be awarded to Donald Rumsfeld!
(The crowd goes wild, balloons and bunting drop from the ceiling…)