From today's New York Times:

Bluntly contradicting the Bush administration, the commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks reported Wednesday there was ``no credible evidence'' that Saddam Hussein helped al-Qaida target the United States.

[…]

The Bush administration has long claimed links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, and cited them as one reason for last year's invasion of Iraq.

On Monday, Vice President Dick Cheney said in a speech that the Iraqi dictator ``had long established ties with al-Qaida.''

Spicy stuff? Not really. Warblogger had some good commentary on this issue the other day. No, the big news here is that the prevalence of deceit in political battles indicates that, in a sense, the body politic has been successfully inoculated. There was a time when a pedantic lie of omission could get a President impeached. No longer. It's not so much that we expect our government to lie (which we indubitably do), but rather that we no longer pay any attention when they lie (which they indubitably do). Recall Bill O'Reilly's oft-quoted harangue against Al Franken and Michael Moore:

O'REILLY: Joseph Goebbels was the Minister of Propaganda for the Nazi regime and whose very famous quote was, "If you tell a lie long enough, it becomes the truth." All right? "If you tell a lie long enough, it becomes the truth."

Sounds like a liberal pouring the foundation of an anti-Bush argument. We've been accusing the President and his ilk of employing specious logic to hoodwink the world for years – to little effect. Will O'Reilly do any better using such tactics against Fahrenheit 9/11? Not likely. There's a phrase for this: ironic comeuppance.