It fascinates me that "spin" has stretched until it now has effectively morphed into outright, bald-faced lies. What do we have to do to convince the broader media that a blatantly, verifiably untrue claim should be immediately identified as such?

Q

I've been hearing this spin for the last few days. It's like blaming a rape victim for wearing a short skirt. After all, Wilson must have known these guys would go after his undercover wife, so it's all his fault! Right? Disgusting.

Sen. Kit Bond's take on the Plame outing will characterize the Republican stance on this matter. The Republican machine is going to minimize and downplay Administration tactics to attack Wilson while Bush is going to look very serious and tell Americans that his White House is allowing the investigation to take its course. Bush is very good at sounding concerned while his minions do the dirty work.

Everytime a politician opens their gob and lies come out, there should be a price to pay. In any job I've done, if I was found to have lied at any time, I'd have been disciplined.

It's as simple as that. Politicians are the only job I know where those who lie are not held accountable.

It's pathetic.

Evidently Mr. Bond Don't Know His Tail From His Head.

Where Has He Been?

This not really a comment, rather a question. As I recall, the British weapons expert David Kay allegedly committed suicide over controversy in the UK involving the Niger forged letter, and indirectly the outing of Valerie Plame. There continues to be mystery and silence surrounding this incident, and some of my UK friends firmly believe that Kay's death was not suicide. I don't want to be accused of "conspiracy" theories, but I have not seen anything on this matter recently, and in the light of the Libby indictments, I wonder if any new information has come to light.

I don't need a personal answer, but would love to see coverage and/or discussion of this issue in Salon, if there is anything legitimate to discuss.

Diana Witt

diana.witt@comcast.net

Tim,

Thanks so much for being clear on the facts in your story regarding Republican Kit Bond's accusation that Joseph Wilson is responsible for his wife's outing. I've followed the Wilson story very closely from the beginning, and it's maddening to hear politicians and talking heads twist Wilson's words regarding Cheney's role in arranging his Niger trip. When will anchors and reporters in the mass media get some teeth?

We're so thankful for Salon, Internet publications such as yours, and for comedy television for maintaining what grip this country has on reality!

Mark

A note regarding Diana Witt's question...

The British weapons expert who was cited as the likely source for a BBC story that their government "sexed up" a government dossier on Iraq, and appears to subsequently have commited suicide, was David Kelly, not David Kay.

It'd be interesting if there were an update on Kelly's death...

David Kay, by the way, was the US Iraq weapons inspector who, when issuing his final report, began his comments to the US Senate with the words "Let me begin by saying, we were almost all wrong..."