Caveat lector

LYING LIARS OF THE WORLD, UNITE! Byron York came up with a puzzling “fact.” Lowry and Kaus ran to spread it:

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2003

MUST-READ NYT: On Wednesday, we asked an incomparable question—we “wonder[ed] how long the press corps can go without pretending to explain the California state budget.” The answer to that is obvious, of course; the mainstream press corps will type right into October without performing that obvious task. But in this morning’s Times, Paul Krugman steps in, offering a bit of an overview. Here’s the part of Krugman’s piece which brought dark chuckles here at THE HOWLER:

KRUGMAN: [O]ne reason Gray Davis is so unpopular is that, unlike the challengers, he has actually had to take painful steps to close the budget gap. Although news reports continue, inexplicably, to talk about a $38 billion deficit, the projected gap for next year is only $8 billion.

LORD BYRON’S LATEST: Bush-haters? Why, they’re just as bad as the Clinton variety! It’s the latest hot spin from the fake, phony right, and courtiers currently race into line, eager to offer an early recital. We’ll discuss the general topic next week. In the meantime, we thought that Byron York’s “way with numbers” deserved an immediate reaction.

Poor Byron! Big, wet tears splashed down his face as he saw his president being misused. And Byron York was especially troubled to see George Bush accused of murders, just the way his slimy pals used to do with Clinton! He complains in the current National Review— and includes a set of odd “facts:”

YORK: The [Clinton] death list was “one of the wackiest examples of the conspiracy theories that pass for news on the Internet and talk radio,” wrote the late New York Daily News columnist Lars-Erik Nelson in a 1999 article, “Conspiracy Nuts Hit New Low with the Body Count.” “It is ignored by the mainstream media as too nutty for serious comment. But it is widely circulated and widely muttered over.”

The same might be said of the Bush body count, which is likely being seen by more people than one might imagine. The bible for Bush murder-and-conspiracy aficionados is a book titled The Immaculate Deception: The Bush Crime Family Exposed, which promises readers a “shocking” look into “the unsavory past of George Bush and his family.” The book, originally published during the first Bush presidency and re-issued for the second, has been invisible in the press, but sells at a steady pace. On Amazon.com recently, it ranked No. 385 in sales—not a best-seller, but well ahead of several other books that appeal to the anti-Bush audience.

That’s right, folks! Over the years, we have found that the Byron Yorks are often involved in the sort of conduct one writer has recently called “Big Lies.” Why, you might even say that the York types tend to get themselves involved with “lies and the lying liars who tell them.” So we hurried over to Amazon.com to see how Immaculate Deception was performing—now that York had talked it up in National Review and all. And wouldn’t you know it? Apparently, big publicity in Byron York’s column doesn’t move a book real good! On Thursday afternoon, Immaculate Deception had slid a bit—all the way down to number 5741! And as of 8 AM today, the book was still in big, major trouble. It sat at number 4043. Was it “well ahead” of Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot? Well, not exactly, no. At 8 AM, Franken’s book stood at number 171! But that’s close enough for men like York—and for the lying liars who support them. Repeat: Here’s how the two books stood on Amazon as of this morning:

Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot: 171
Immaculate Deception: 4043

Speaking of major forms of deception, we’d love to know when Immaculate Deception was selling the way York claimed. Or is York just peddling the latest scam—the latest fake, phony “fact?” After all, fakers and frauds like Byron York lied through their teeth to build anti-Clinton hatred. And now they want their dumb-ass readers to think that Bush is being done the same way! So what do they do? Of course! They resume their lying! Our question: How long will Americans—like you and me—put up with these grimy deceptions? This attack on our culture has persisted for almost twelve years. How long do we plan to accept it?

LYING LIARS OF THE WORLD, UNITE: Maybe it’s just an August thing, but checking facts seems to be too much for brilliant “journalist” Rich Lowry. Lowry’s a Well Paid Big Cheese at The National Review, the mag which put York’s piece into print. This week, Lowry discusses York’s troubling piece in his own nationally syndicated column. In part, the great faker says this:

LOWRY: A book detailing the Bush family murders called “The Immaculate Deception” outsells mainstream anti-Bush books—by Al Franken, et al.—on Amazon.com, according to York.

But then, that’s how the Clinton “murder list” got spread all around in the first place! Slimy men like York and Lowry bruited the pseudo-facts about town. Now they’re doing the same slimy work—and slimy organs like the Post-Intel are eager to help them do it. And oh yes, who else wasquickly on board? You guessed it! Mickey Kaus was eager to say how great York and Lowry’s work was! (Click here, roll back to Wednesday. More on his evidentiary standards next week.) Our question: How long will American citizens put up with such manifest fakers, phonies and frauds? How long will we let such fake, phony men make a joke of our national discourse?

Note: According to Kaus, Lowry’s column also appeared in the New York Post. For obvious reasons, we’re not inclined to put much stock in things Kaus says. But in all likelihood, Lowry’s column has appeared widely. To all appearances, our lying liars, with their big lies, can’t wait to start lying again.

MUST-READ WP: In a rare op-ed written from the real world, a retired Navy officer asks why we tolerate lying liars on the Net. The gentleman didn’t name York/Lowry/Kaus. But he seemed to have their type in mind.