LIE OF THE WEEK: 11-17-2006

President Bush on passing the site where Senator John McCain's plane was shot down in Vietnam:

"..one of the most poignant moments of the drive in was passing the lake where John McCain got pulled out of the lake. And he's a friend of ours; he suffered a lot as a result of his imprisonment, and yet, we passed the place where he was, literally, saved, in one way, by the people pulling him out."

THE TRUTH: Trying to whitewash the Vietnamese regime (which is still the same authoritarian regime for the past 40 years) as being Senator McCain's savior rather than his captor and torturer for five years is the sickest form of pandering as part of the Bush administration's focus building a stronger economic relationship. This is disrespectful to everyone who honorably served their country in the Vietnam War, especially in light of the fact that President Bush avoided real service through his stint in the Air National Guard. This disgusting behavior is proof-positive that we should tie trade to democracy and freedom and stop supporting and enriching the authoritarian regimes of the world just for economic benefits.