Oh, Please!

From the Editorial Page of today's NYT -- It Depends on What 'Member' Means (emphasis mine):

Last week, the White House denied that Mr. Roberts had ever been a member of the Federalist Society. Mr. Roberts's handlers were no doubt concerned that the society's reputation as an organization of hard-line conservatives could work against him during the confirmation process. The White House even persuaded several news organizations that had called him a member to print corrections. But The Washington Post reported yesterday that he was listed in a Federalist Society Lawyers' Division Leadership Directory for 1997-1998 as a member of the steering committee of the Washington chapter.

[...]

Mr. Roberts still has no recollection of being a member of the society or on the steering committee, according to the White House. It may be that Mr. Roberts was never formally a member of the society, which keeps its membership secret. But at his confirmation hearings, the Senate should make sure that there was no intent to deceive senators or the public.

I'm sorry, this is complete bullsh*t. The issue isn't whether he was or wasn't a member. He was nominated by Bush, everyone on the planet expected that he would be a conservative. However, the fact that the White House (*cough*Rove*cough*) lied about this is simply unacceptable. I don't suppose that it should jeopardize Robert's nomination to SCOTUS. However, the administration should be taken out to the woodshed for lying once again to the American people. Pitty that the MSM seems incapable of calling a spade a spade.

The Bush administration's first instinct is to lie to the American people. They lied about WMD, about Iraq's attempted purchase of uranium from Niger, about the connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq, about the Aug 6, 2001 PDB, about every damn terror alert issued by DHS leading up to the elections, about Rove and Libby's involvement in the leaking of Valerie Plame's affiliation with the CIA, about the real price of the Medicare bill, about the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund, about their non-proposal for Social Security reform, about the abuses at Abu Ghraib, about the treatment of detainees in Gitmo, about the use of "extraordinary rendition", about the readiness of the Iraqi forces and the lack of progress in rebuilding the country after we blew it to bits. They seem to be incapable of telling the truth. (I can hear Dick Cheney now: you can't handle the truth!)

What pisses me off most though is that the NYT and other MSM press outlets give them the benefit of the doubt despite the incredible track record for mendacity that this administration has accumulated in less than 5 years.

Sure, all administrations lie and administrations should be given the benefit of the doubt -- up to a point. However, the BushCheney administration has taken lying to an art form that is unsurpassed by any previous administration and they should have used up all their trust chits long ago.

Shame on the NYT editors for their complicity in the Bamboozlement of America. Of course there was an intent to deceive the public! What morons.