Bad Day for Charlie Sykes

by bert

As I am inflicting the blog by Charlie Sykes on myself with one browser window open, I am also checking the Atrios blog that is mentioning a hearing in Congress today.

From Charlie, with an introduction that reads "unlike liberals, we don't have to lie," I get the deep thoughts delivered in a breezy tone by an insignificant writer of thrillers named Andrew Klaven:

The thing I like best about being a conservative is that I don’t have to lie. I don’t have to pretend that men and women are the same. I don’t have to declare that failed or oppressive cultures are as good as mine. I don’t have to say that everyone’s special or that the rich cause poverty or that all religions are a path to God. . . I don’t have to pretend that Islam means peace.

OK, whatever. But it turns out Charlie's timing was off today.

That's because when I am switching back to the House hearing chaired by Henry Waxman, I see the brother of Pat Tillman testifying. The brother is named Kevin and was, like Pat, an Army ranger fighting in Afghanistan. Here's the sort of thing that Kevin was saying:

Government officials told "deliberate and calculated lies'' to conceal that Army Ranger Pat Tillman, a former professional football player, was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire, not during a heroic battle against U.S. enemies, his brother told lawmakers today.

Jessica Lynch also testified, saying she was angry that the military also lied to the press about her supposed Rambo-style heroics before she was taken prisoner by her Iraqi attackers.

So, to go back to Sykes, I don't know of any time when this phony "point" about conservatives and truth-telling would not be a hilarious absurdity. We remember Ronald Reagan smugly telling his country that "we don't negotiate with terrorists," for example.

But today was for sure not the right moment.