Lies, damn lies and statistics

The Minneapolis - St. Paul Star Tribune editorial today tells it like it is (emphasis mine):

Of all the lies -- let's call them by their right name -- that the Bush administration is spreading about Social Security, none is as vile as the canard Bush repeated last Tuesday, when he said, "African-American males die sooner than other males do, which means the [Social Security] system is inherently unfair to a certain group of people. And that needs to be fixed."

...

Social Security is a complex program, so it's easy to tell outright lies or make misleading statements about it with little fear of contradiction from the general public. All Americans should be on notice that the Bush administration, in its drive to start dismantling Social Security, isn't telling the truth on several fronts.

I was watching a clip of Bush in one of his "unscripted town hall" meetings on the Daily Show when he sprung that statement. The body language of the guy sitting next to the president was undeniably one of WTF!? That was certainly my reaction.

I'm glad to see that the press (aside from the Daily Show which has been doing so for some time now) is finally calling a spade a spade.

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