In a recent post on his Capital Games blog at The Nation website, leftist writer David Corn accuses a Pentagon spokesman of lying:

Waitaminute. Last week Di Rita said there were no credible allegations [of Koran desecration] and, thus, nothing to investigate. Yet today Hood disclosed there were 13 "incidents of alleged mishandling of the Koran," and five were confirmed. It turns out that not only were there credible allegations, there were actual "incidents." Would Di Rita care to explain this? Would he care to retract his briefing, apologize, and promise to do better? Anyone in the White House care to express outrage over Di Rita's untruthful assertion?

The answer is as simple as it can be - "mishandling" and "desecration" are not the same thing, David. Intentionally flushing a Koran down a toilet and "accidentally touching" a Koran are not the same thing, David. One may disagree with that distinction, but this liberal trope of calling anything they disagree with a "lie" is dishonest demagogy.

The only question remaining is whether Corn's problem is dishonesty or stupidity. He seems to be a reasonably intelligent guy, and given the rampant disingenuousness of his last book, "The Lies of George W. Bush", and the generally bad faith zeitgeist on the left today, we must suspect he's simply being dishonest to support his anti-liberation agenda. Would Mr. Corn care to apologize and promise to do better? We seriously doubt it.

Update: Washington Monthly is spreading the same manure as Corn is.