As much as I appreciated White House Press Secretary Tony Snow rejecting the Pelosi/plane nonsense as a “silly” story that is “unfair” to the House Speaker, the Baghdad Bob of White House officials hasn’t had a great week, at least as far as telling the truth is concerned.
Let’s play a game — pick the worst Tony Snow falsehood of the week.
1. Greenpeace goes nuclear — In the hopes of characterizing nuclear power as environmentally friendly, Snow told reporters on Wednesday, “We’re talking about nuclear development, which is now championed by, among others, Greenpeace… I think there’s some Greenpeace people who are certainly advocates of nuclear power. Why? Because it’s clean and it provides for energy.” (Fact check: Greenpeace hates nuclear power. Jim Riccio, a nuclear policy analyst with Greenpeace, said yesterday, “Mr. Snow is about 180 degrees off. Not only do we not support nuclear power, we certainly don’t support it as an answer to global climate change.”)
2. Tax cuts pay for themselves — Arguing that the government will take in more money if it takes in less money, Snow told reporters, “Low taxes means economic vitality, which means more tax revenues…. There are any number of ways of calculating [the cost of tax cuts]. By some calculations they have paid for themselves and then some.” (Fact check: even the White House’s own economists have argued publicly that this is wrong.)
3. Who said anything about Iran? — Last month, Bush said he’s moving a second naval carrier group to the Persian Gulf just after he finished talking about the malfeasance of Iran. Yesterday, Snow said the media is fabricating aggressive posturing towards Iran. “You guys kept trying to report that we were doing it, and we kept saying, ‘No, we’re not.’ … I don’t believe [the Persian Gulf is Iran’s] backyard. I believe it is the ocean that also encompasses a whole series of other nations. It is not as if they are parking outside of Iranian ports.” (Fact check: Defense Secretary Bob Gates put the naval deployment in the context of Iran at a NATO summit last month.)
4. Benchmarks, schmenchmarks — Snow told reporters the White House won’t go out of its way to insist that Iraqis meet the benchmarks the Bush administration has laid out for them. “I think at this point, to try to start rendering summary judgment at the very beginning of an effort by the Iraqis not only to deal with matters of legislation, but also economic development and getting forces on the ground, and for that matter, getting their headquarters and command stood up, is a little premature. The other thing we’ve said is if it takes a couple extra days or weeks at one end or another, we’re going to understand that.” (Fact check: A month ago, Bush said, “If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people — and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people. Now is the time to act.”)
Taken together, these are obviously the insights of a man who the press corps can hardly take seriously, better yet trust. And yet, there Tony Snow stands, behind his White House podium, making up just about any tall tale he thinks will get him through the day’s briefing.
So, which one’s the worst? I’m leaning towards #1 — who is seriously going to believe Greenpeace endorses nuclear power? — though a reasonable case can be made for any of the four.