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Old 10-23-2004, 01:11 AM
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Cool Hand Cool Hand is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2004
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Default Re: 100 facts and 1 opinion

Hmmm.....Mr. Legum uses a definition of "fact" that is closer to that used by lawyers than one by a disinterested reporter or an opinionated editorial writer. Many of his facts contain a large dose of spin and editorial beyond the actual facts themselves.

This one, for instance, is an absurd bit of editorializing and insinuating.

12. After receiving a memo from the CIA in August 2001 titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack America," President Bush continued his monthlong vacation.

This "fact" implies that the President personally reviewed the memo, which may or may not be the case. It implies further that as a result of reading the memo, the President knew that a terrorist attack on U.S. soil was imminent and that he could have taken specific measures to prevent it, but did not. Even further, it implies that his vacationing was callous and reckless. The writer is essentially saying that Bush fiddled while New York burned.

I would retitle his article "100 Bits of Spin and 1 Bit of Irresponsible Hyperbole Unfitting of a Serious Journalist."

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