The Lies of George W. Bush

Bush defenders usually explain away his truthfulness by saying he is very careful NOT to lie, which in many ways is more damning. But I'd like to see them spin their way out of this:

The Bush administration has been trying to force Congress to abandon its support for an Iraq withdrawal time line by claiming that a “clean” Iraq spending bill must be signed by mid-April or U.S. troops will suffer. The Hill reported, the Pentagon and the White House have been “sounding alarms and sketching worst-case scenarios if Congress does not pass the 2007 supplemental by April 15.” [...]

Meanwhile, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and others have been arguing that Bush is wrong, and that funds won’t dry up until June, giving plenty of time for negotiations [...]

Now we know who’s right. A new report from the Congressional Research Service makes clear that Bush’s deadline is completely fabricated:

In a memo to the Senate Budget Committee dated Wednesday, the congressional analysts said the Army has enough money in its existing budget to fund operations and maintenance through the end of May — about $52.6 billion. If additional transfer authority is tapped, subject to Congress approving a reprogramming request, the Army would have enough funds to make it through nearly two additional months, or toward the end of July. Using all of its transfer authority, the Army could have as much as $60.1 billion available.

That was such obvious bullshit, that a department with the largest share of the federal budget wouldn't be able to scrounge up the funding to get the troops bullets. Bush can justify his fearmongering by saying he was specifically talking about non-transferable funds or something, but the implication is there.

Then there's this, which is more about the lies of the military brass, with Bush as the cherry on top:

Just seven days after Pat Tillman's death, a top general warned there were strong indications that it was friendly fire and President Bush might embarrass himself if he said the NFL star-turned-soldier died in an ambush, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press.

It was not until a month afterward that the Pentagon told the public and grieving family members the truth — that Tillman was mistakenly killed in Afghanistan by his comrades.

The memo reinforces suspicions that the Pentagon was more concerned with sparing officials from embarrassment than with leveling with Tillman's family.

Bush never quite made mention of how Tillman died, but he didn't exactly neglect to invite the implication either. It's one of those "technically true, operationally false" statements on which this whole Presidency hangs.