Wednesday, July 24, 2013

The Washington Post "fact checker" Needs to Fact Check Himself on Ike

The Washington Post "fact checker" (who had previously and rather dishonestly "fact checked" Rand Paul's State of the Union response) just gave Rand Paul 4 Pinocchios (a score meaning he is lying through his teeth) for saying that he received guidance and inspiration from Eisenhower.  I would think that to get such a score he would have had to dig up some speech or some paper that Rand Paul gave/wrote saying how he thought Eisenhower was Satan or something.  But no, Glenn Kessler finds some policies that Ike supported and Rand Paul doesn't (foreign aid, the CIA and international organizations) to prove his point and gives Rand Paul the worst score he can.  

I think the "fact checker" should actually look up in the dictionary what inspiration and guidance means, it certainly doesn't mean "I agree with everything that another person said and did".  If Rand Paul said he received inspiration and guidance from the Beatles, would he deserve 4 Pinocchios for not having a coke, alcohol or heroin addiction like various members of the band did?

So what about Eisenhower inspires Rand Paul?  Well first, he was a former Supreme Commander of Allied Forces who becomes President and did what he thought what was best for the country and not just his friends.  He didn't juice defense spending and military projects to help his former comrades in the Defense Department (I realize it was the War Department during WWII, but you get the drift).  Instead, he cut the defense budget by 27% in real terms during his time in office.

And what probably most inspired Rand Paul was Ike's warning about the "military industrial complex" in his farewell address in 1961:  

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

Sounds like something Rand Paul would agree with 100%.  So why did he get 4 Pinocchios again?  Maybe Glenn Kessler needs to complete his "fact checking" before writing hit pieces in the future.

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