Ted Kennedy Attacks on Homeland Security: "Fake but Accurate"

A UMass - Dartmouth College student claimed to have been visited by Homeland Security agents, who were investigating him for wanting to check out Chinese Communists Mao's "Little Red Book" from the library. The timing was perfect to help sabotage the vote on the Patriot Act, and Ted Kennedy jumped on it faster than he could swim. From the WSJ Opinion Journal come this report with this follow-up. It seems as if the story was false, but the Senator is sticking by it as "fake but accurate."

Federal agents' visit was a hoax: Student admits he lied about Mao book

The UMass Dartmouth student who claimed to have been visited by Homeland Security agents over his request for "The Little Red Book" by Mao Zedong has admitted to making up the entire story. The 22-year-old student tearfully admitted he made the story up to his history professor...after being confronted with the inconsistencies in his account. ...His basic tale remained the same: The book was on a government watch list, and his loan request had triggered a visit from an agent who was seeking to "tame" reading of particular books. He said he saw a long list of such books.

The story's release came at a perfect storm in the news cycle. Only a day before, The New York Times had reported that President Bush had allowed the National Security Agency to conduct wiretaps on international phone calls from the United States without a warrant. There was an increased sense among some Americans that the U.S. government was overstepping its bounds and trampling on civil liberties in order to thwart future attacks of terrorism. The story of a college student being questioned for requesting a 40-year old book on Communism fed right into that atmosphere.

Oh, it's so touching that the lying student "tearfully admitted" to the truth.

But, before the truth came out, how did the Senior Senator from Massachusetts use the story for political purposes? Here's what he said in an op-ed:

On wiretapping, Bush isn't listening to the Constitution, By Edward M. Kennedy

Think of the chilling effect on free speech and academic freedom when a government agent shows up at your home -- after you request a book from the library. Incredibly, we are now in an era where reading a controversial book may be evidence of a link to terrorists. Something is amiss here. Something doesn't make sense. We need a thorough and independent investigation of these activities. The Congress and the American people deserve answers now.

Well, I think we have the answers you wanted, Senator. Now, how about an apology? Here's how that was handled:

It's Mao or Never

Here's the actual Kennedy response as reported by the Globe: "Laura Capps, a Kennedy spokeswoman, said last night that the senator cited ''public reports" in his opinion piece. Even if the assertion was a hoax, she said, it did not detract from Kennedy's broader point that the Bush administration has gone too far in engaging in surveillance."

Okay, the Senator fell for the hoax and didn't check it out because it furthered his attacks against the President, but when confronted with the truth it still didn't matter, because his statements were correct even if supported by lies. Is Dan Rather his ghost writer?

Oh, and the student? Here's the university's position about the student, his lies, and the effect on our country: "He needs attention, he needs care. I feel for the kid. We have great concern for this student's health and welfare." and "We consider this to be an issue to be handled faculty member to student. We wouldn't discuss publicly any other action. Student discipline is a private matter." Do you think that the student learned a lesson here? Do you think that it's the right one?

The next time that some Democrat or liberal is telling you that Bush lied, consider the source.