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September 17, 2005

American Thinker accused of lying and propaganda

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We are very pleased to have played a small role in bringing to public attention the ridiculous vile accusation of Senator Durbin that the United States is comparable to the regimes of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot in its treatment of Gitmo prisoners. J. James Estrada's post was picked up by Rush Limbaugh [thanks for your very kind comments about us, Rush!], and with millions of Americans now aware, the national conversation now includes consideration of Durbin's disgrace.

Needless to say, a counter—attack from the left was inevitable.

A blogger named Bob Felton, writing at Blogger News Network and with a duplicate post on his own blog, is defending Senator Durbin's over—the—top comments with his own over—the—top rhetoric. It seems that a hyperbole contagion has gripped America's left, and the urge to make a fool of oneself is spreading like AIDS in a 1980s San Francisco bath house. Here is what Felton wrote:

...Little Green Footballs and The American Thinker each provided a link to the Congressional Record from which I took Durbin's quote — though neither of them mentioned the FBI report from which Durbin quoted, inviting readers instead to suppose that Durbin was condemning Holiday Inn—like conditions rather than chaining prisoners to the floor and forcing them to lay in feces and urine.

Those Web sites are operated by propagandists who lie to their readers, in other words.

For the record, our post said not a word implying anything about the actual conditions. No matter what the conditions are, they are not remotely akin to the crimes of Pol Pot, Hitler, and Stalin, which are comparisons chosen by the Senator. Readers can read what Durbin said via the link we provided. A commentator is under no obligation to quote a text in its entirety when making a commentary on it. That is what hyperlinks are used for.

Just as Durbin makes himself ridiculous, so, too does Bob Felton, a;beit on a petty and insignificant level.

We did not lie. He did, however, by making a false accusation. We publish the truth, and if we make a factual mistake, we acknowledge it immediately. Felton chooses to fling false accusations.

So who is the propagandist?

Thomas Lifson 6 16 05