- You’d think someone who aspires to higher office would want a full picture of the national debate on various issues, but Ralph Reed says no. In a speech in Nevada, Reed told an audience that he relies on the Internet, conservative talk show hosts and the Fox News network to get his information about the world. Reed explained that he hadn’t watched a major network’s newscast “in years.”
- I get in the car in the morning and listen to Rush Limbaugh. On the way home, I listen to Sean Hannity. At night I watch Fox News,” he said. So much for a balanced view of the world.
- Just before the first presidential debate in 2004, Reed said that one of the reasons the US had to invade Iraq was because Iraq had invaded Iran in the 1980s. Apparently Reed had no idea that the US supported Iraq in that war and in fact made sure Saddam Hussein was armed to the teeth when he fought the country the Reagan administration considered our top foe, outside of the evil Soviet empire of course.
- When Ralph Reed was on The Daily Show, he kept referring to the 9/11 Commission Report and specifying page 66 as the “proof” that Iraq had conspired with al-Qaeda. One problem: page 66 says no such thing.
- While page 66 does talk about a few tenuous links between al-Qaeda and Iraq, it definitively concludes “to date we have seen no evidence that these or the earlier contacts ever developed into a collaborative operational relationship. Nor have we seen evidence indicating that Iraq cooperated with al Qaeda in developing or carrying out any attacks against the United States.” Hey, isn’t there something in the Bible about not lying? Sorry, we don’t know exactly what page it’s on.
This article appears in Mar 16-22, 2005.
