Your Liberal Mainstream Media: Only Checking the Facts that Make Conservatives Look Bad

Wow, that's a long title.

Anyway, lo and behold, within two hours of returning to blogging, I've already found something to write about. Little Green Footballs directed me to this story. Excerpt:

Democrats fumed last week at Vice President Cheney's suggestion that criticism of the administration's war policies was itself becoming a hindrance to the war effort. But a new poll indicates most Americans are sympathetic to Cheney's point.

Seventy percent of people surveyed said that criticism of the war by Democratic senators hurts troop morale -- with 44 percent saying morale is hurt "a lot," according to a poll taken by RT Strategies. Even self-identified Democrats agree: 55 percent believe criticism hurts morale, while 21 percent say it helps morale.

So, first of all, despite the current liberal talking point that most people are now squarely on the anti-war/anti-Bush side, many still see the Democrats' ignorance as dangerous. But since LGF already covered that aspect (follow the link for more), I'd like to examine another part of the story. Let's look at the first paragraph again:

Democrats fumed last week at Vice President Cheney's suggestion that criticism of the administration's war policies was itself becoming a hindrance to the war effort. But a new poll indicates most Americans are sympathetic to Cheney's point.

Now, if you weren't paying attention, you'd probably think Cheney had suggested that any criticism of the war is a "hindrance to the war effort." After all, aren't liberals constantly claiming that the administration has labelled any type of dissent unpatriotic?

However, if you aren't a mindless drone, and you actually bother to think once in a while, you're probably capable of checking this insinuation against what the vice president actually said:

I do not believe it is wrong to criticize the war on terror or any aspect thereof. Disagreement, argument, and debate are the essence of democracy, and none of us should want it any other way....Nor is there any problem with debating whether the United States and our allies should have liberated Iraq in the first place...What is not legitimate -- and what I will again say is dishonest and reprehensible -- is the suggestion by some U. S. senators that the President of the United States or any member of his administration purposely misled the American people on pre-war intelligence.

So, let's think about this: The survey in the article asked people if criticism of the war hurts the war effort, and the article itself suggests that this is Cheney's position. However, Cheney said that criticism is good for the country, but deliberately lying about the war in order to score political points is irresponsible.

Oh, but Cheney still suggested that some type of criticism hurts troop morale, just like the article says, right?

Wrong:

One might also argue that untruthful charges against the Commander-in-Chief have an insidious effect on the war effort itself. I'm unwilling to say that, only because I know the character of the United States Armed Forces -- men and women who are fighting the war on terror in Iraq, Afghanistan, and many other fronts. They haven't wavered in the slightest, and their conduct should make all Americans proud. They are absolutely relentless in their duties, and they are carrying out their missions with all the skill and the honor we expect of them.

Thanks, MSM, for once again proving that you have absolutely no idea how to be objective.