Maddow and Matthews, slippery as usual

Here's what Rachel Maddow said last week on her MSNBC show about President Bush's announcement of troop withdrawals from Iraq --

"After President Bush announced yesterday that troop levels will stay the same through the end of his presidency and that he proposes that the next president bring home just 8,000 troops next February, which would leave more American forces in Iraq indefinitely then were there before the surge, John McCain didn't go on camera to comment on the subject, opting instead for a short written statement."

But as the New York Times' reporting on the matter makes clear, Maddow's claims are patently false. Here is what the Times reported on Tuesday, Sept. 9 --

"As President Bush announced today that he would draw down the level of troops in Iraq by 8,000 early next year, the presidential candidates and their surrogates — as well as other politicians — began weighing in."

In other words, 8,000 US troops will leave Iraq by February, not in "next February," as Maddow falsely claims, nor did Bush say "troop levels will stay the same through the end of his presidency," as Maddow also pulled out of thin air.

Maddow's MSNBC colleague Chris Matthews did much the same thing in speaking with Maddow, claiming the US is "still stuck" in Iraq "to the point they can't, the president says they can't spare a man or a woman, we're that stuck."

This only two days after president announced that 8,000 troops will be, uh, unstuck from Iraq by February.

Liberals like Maddow and Matthews who complain about deceit from McCain and Palin might make a more convincing argument if they did not engage in it themselves.