Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right (45 page)

46. “How to Have a Longer Life and Enjoy It More, Interview with Dr. Robert N. Butler, Director, National Institute on Aging,”
U.S. News & World Report,
July 12,1976, p. 29.

47. The identical LexisNexis search for the same time period in 1988 (first ten months) produces only a few obscure legal publications, e.g., “Permitting the Destruction of Unworthy Life: Its Extent and Form,”
Issues in Law & Medicine,
September 22, 1992 (first published in 1920 by Verlag von Felix Meiner in Leipzig, Germany).

48. The same search for 1996 produces only one large-circulation magazine article on

notes,
pp. 132-135
229

senility (Jill Smolowe, “Older, Longer; Researchers Are Finding More Ways to Keep Senility at Bay, but How Long Should We Aim to Live?”
Time,
Fall 1996) amid even more obscure publications, including
Vegetarian Times
and three issues of
Townsend Letter for Doctors Si-Patients
—both unavailable on LexisNexis in 1984, and also one article in
Psychology Today,
which had recently begun to republish and had a low circulation.

49. Barbara Wickens, “Brain Detectives,”
Maclean’s,
March 13,2000, p. 32.

50. This is excluding small-circulation magazines, many of which are not in the LexisNexis database for 1984.

51. Katie Couric, Ann Curry, and Sara James,
Today,
September 27, 1999.

52. Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, and Ann Curry,
Today,
September 28, 1999.

53. Katie Couric, “Edmund Morris Discusses His Book,
Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan,” Today,
September29,1999.

54. Ibid.

55. Kevin Merida, “Shades of Gray Matter.”

56. Herbert Mitgang, “Books of the Times: Recounting the Lowlights of the Reagan Years,”
New York Times,
March20,1991, p. CIS.

57. John Kenneth Galbraith, “Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years,”
Atlanta Journal and Constitution,
March 3,1991.

58. John Dillin, “Iran-Contra Crisis May Have Peaked,”
Christian Science Monitor,
January 7, 1987. (“Gage says poll results must be properly analyzed. For example, in last month’s Gallup poll, Reagan’s approval rating fell from 63 percent to 47 percent. But Reagan’s personal popularity fell only from 80 percent to 75 percent. ‘The first figure represents public reaction to the headlines,’ Gage says. ‘The second reflects the public’s actual feelings toward the President.’ “)

59. James Gerstenzang, “Barbs Feared Eroding President’s Ability to Govern,”
Los Angeles Times,
January 24,1987; David Lamb, “The Times Poll: Many Doubt President’s Ability to Lead,”
Los Angeles Times,
February 25, 1987. (“However, Reagan remains well-liked: 55% of Americans approve of the President’s job performance, up from 50% in December, and a whopping 79%—including 90% of Republicans and 67% of Democrats—said they like Reagan personally.”)

60. Robert Sherrill,
“Reagan’s America
Innocents at Home, by Garry Wills”
Washington Post Book World,
January 11,1987.

61. Jonathan Schell, “Shock over Latest Scandal May Finally Wake Up Americans,”
Bergen County Record,
April 22,1991, p. B9.

62. Sam Howe Verhovek, “The 2000 Campaign: The Electorate: Missing Their Man, Devotees of McCain Wonder Which Way to Turn,”
New York Times,
March 12, 2000 (citing voters who describe Bush as “an airhead,” “out of his depth,” and “unqualified”); Nicholas D. Kristof, “The 2000 Campaign: The Texas Governor, Ally of an Older Generation Amid the Tumult of the 60’s,”
New York Times,
June 19, 2000. (“[Some of Bush’s Yale classmates saw] seeing him as an airhead party boy, tended to think of him as affable and unusually helpful to his friends.”)

63. Kevin Menda, “Shades of Gray Matter.”

64. Nancy Gibbs, “Primary Questions; As the Dust Settles in a Two-Man Race, the Question Now Is: Does Bush Have the Brains, McCain the Temperament to Preside in the Oval Office?”
Time,
November 15,1999.

65. Matthew Mosk, “Bottom’s Up for Midshipman: Classmates Tip Hats to Dead-Last Grad,”
Washington Post,
May 25,2000, p. Bl.

66. Nancy Gibbs, “Primary Questions.”

67. Roger Simon, “Is It Wrong to Call Him George Dumbya Bush?”
U.S. News & World Report,
July 19,1999.

68. Mary Leonard, “Real Smarts, Grades in College Are Not the Best Indicators of How Good a President a Candidate Might Be,”
Boston Globe,
November 26,1999, p. Al.

69. Bill Turque, “What Mr. Smooth Is Teaching Mr. Stiff,”
Newsweek,
September 2,1996. Republicans are often described as having a lack of “intellectual curiosity,” which is noteworthy for being such an utterly meaningless formulation. See, e.g., Jonathan Chait, “Presumed Igno-

NOTES,
pp. 136-142
230

rant,”
New Republic,
April 30,2001. This said Bush was “dumb” in the sense of having “a persistent incuriosity that has kept him in a state of childlike ignorance.”

70. Nicholas D. Kristof, “The 2000 Campaign: The Texas Governor.”

71. James Carney, “Why Bush Doesn’t Like Homework,”
Time,
November 15,1999.

72. Kevin Merida, “Shades of Gray Matter.”

73. Nicholas D. Kristof, “The 2000 Campaign: The Texas Governor.”

74. Frank Bruni, “Political Memo; Bush’s Odd Pitch: Ignorance Is Bliss,”
New York Times,
June 4,2000.

75. “George W. Wins the ‘Phony War,’ “
Newsweek,
November 20,2000, p. 62.

76. This included Johnson’s claim that he and Bush “high-fived” about not knowing what conference speakers were talking about and his praising Bush for making it “really evident” that he didn’t know a lot.

77. The Hotline, “White House 2000, Bush: Stumbles in Interview Game of Name That Leader” (citing headlines), November 5,1999.

78. Charles Gibson, “How Damaging Was Presidential Hopeful George W. Bush’s Poor Performance in Foreign Policy Pop Quiz to His Campaign,” Interview with George Stephanopoulos,
Good Morning America,
November 5,1999.

79. Brian Williams, “Interview with Paul Begala,”
The News with Brian Williams,
MSNBC, November 4,1999, FDCH Political Transcripts.

80.
ABC This Week,
November 7,1999.

81. Howard Fineman, “The Outside Shooter... and the Fighting Pilot,”
Newsweek,
November 15,1999.

82. Terry M. Neal, “Gore Blasts Quiz Answer,”
Washington Post,
November 6, 1999, p.A9.

83. Editorial, “A Pop Quiz for Mr. Bush,”
New York Times,
November 6,1999, p. A16.

84. Steve Kraske, “Garbage: It Tips Politics Differently,”
Kansas City Star,
November 7, 1999.

85. Maureen Dowd, “Liberties: Name That General!”
New York Times,
November 7, 1999, sec. 4, p. 15.

86. Thomas L. Friedman, “George W.’s Makeup Exam,”
New York Times,
November 7,

1999. In his capacity as a
New York Times
columnist, Friedman also advised the Democrats to “run commercials over and over again just showing that look on his face.” He even suggested an appropriate voice-over for the commercial.

87. Adam Nagourney, “We Must Go Forward Together: Clinton Team Capitalizes on the Limelight,”
USA Today,
January 18,1993, p. 1A.

88. Caroline Schaefer, “A Case Study:
Later Today’s
Asha Blake Suffered from a Sluggish Metabolism Until a Pro Showed Her How to Get Up and Go,”
In Style,
Summer 2000, p. 175.

89. David Bloom, Jodi Applegate, Asha Blake, and Florence Henderson, “George W. Bush Ambushed with Foreign Policy Questions,”
Later Today,
November 5,1999.

90. Richard L. Berke with Rick Lyman, “Training for a Presidential Race,”
New York Times,
March 15,1999, p. A16, appended.

91. Ibid.

92. “Ex-Museum Chief’s History Is Impeachable,”
New York Post,
July 18,2001.

93. Dan Rather and Bob Schieffer, “Performance of Candidates in the Presidential Debate,”
CBS News,
October 3,2000.

94. Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, and Tom Brokaw, “Governor George W. Bush Discusses the Debate,”
Today,
October 4,2000.

95. Mike Allen, “Bush’s Gaffes Are Back as Debates Near,”
Washington Post,
October 1,

2000, p. A8.

96. See, e.g., Curtis Wilkie, “Clinton Urges Program to Aid Industry,”
Boston Globe,
September 9,1992.

97. “Current Quotes from the 1992 Presidential Campaign Trail,”
Associated Press,
September 9,1992. (Vice President Dan Quayle on Bill Clinton referring to the anti-missile Patriot missiles as flying down chimneys and through doors.)

NOTES,
pp. 142-148
231

98. “National Editorial Sampler: What Newspapers Are Saying,” United Press International, September 16,1992. (Quoting
Los Angeles Times.)

99. Janice Castro, “Moments from Last Week Bush, Clinton and Quayle Would Like to Forget,”
Time,
September 21, 1992.

100. Frederick Allen, “Winner and Loser of the Week? It’s Harry Truman,”
CNN Prime News,
September 12,1992, Transcript #158-8.

101. Both the cruise missile and smart bombs have amazing targeting technology—accurate to about three feet, not accounting for wind and other natural conditions. The cruise missile hits targets guided by laser, satellite, or pre-programmed destination. The “smart bombs” guide themselves on the way down, as the fins on the back move back and forth to hit the exact target, also guided by laser or satellite.

102. Bill Tammeus, “A Few Quotes to Enliven These Sluggish Times,”
Plain Dealer,
December 29, 1992, p. 5B. Clinton said this in a speech at the University of Florida in Gainesville on October 8,1992.

103. Matt Pommer, “Pols Speak, Find a Place for Foot,”
Capital Times
(Madison, Wis.), June 28, 1999, p. 3A. State Sen. Carol Roessler, R-Oshkosh, has borrowed an idea from Art Linkletter, a TV personality of yesteryear who -wrote the popular book
Kids Say the Darndest Things.
Roessler is out with a new book,
Politicians Say the Dumbest Things.
The book is kind—it doesn’t credit the Wisconsin legislators who let their tongues run ahead of their brains.

104. Greg Freeman, “Brother-Sister Team Compiles Officials’ Most Inane Utterances,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
September 30,1999, p. Bl.

105. Michelle Mittelstadt, “Attorney General Says Verdict Shows Government Acted Properly,” Associated Press, February 26,1994.

106. “Overlooked,” The Hotline, September 27,1991. (“Al Gore, on the Senate floor this week, used the simile ‘like a zebra changing its spots.’ [Noting: ‘Of course, the Congressional Record will show otherwise.’]”)

107. Trevor Kavanagh, “Prepare to Fight,”
Sun,
October 11, 2001.

108. “Mrs. Clinton Slips from Script on Aspiration,”
New York Times,
July 19,2001.

109. “Speech by Vice President Albert Gore, Jr., at the Emily’s List Majority Council Conference Breakfast, Washington Hilton Hotel, Washington, D.C.,” Federal News Service, June 11,1999.

110. Hilary Bowker, “Text of Hillary Clinton Whitewater Press Conference,” CNN
Prime News,
April 22,1994, Transcript #389-1.

111. Steve Kroft, “Governor and Mrs. Bill Clinton Discuss Adultery Accusations,”
60 Minutes,
January 26,1992.

112. Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras,
The 776 Stupidest Things Ever Said,
New York: Doubleday, 1993; Paul Kirchner,
Oops! A Stupefying Survey of Goofs, Blunders and Blotches, Great and Small,
General Publishing Group, 1995; David Olive,
Political Babble,
New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1995; David Wallechinsky and Amy Wallace,
The Book of Lists,
Boston: Little, Brown.

113. Eric Nash, “Endpaper: The Annotated Calvin and Hobbes,”
New York Times,
January 9,1994, p. 50.

114. Paula LaRocque, “For Politicians of the World, Words Have Always Had Leanings,”
Dallas Morning News,
May 18, 1998.

115. Jack Smith, “Even Short Quotations Leave a Mark,”
Los Angeles Times,
March 7, 1994.

116. Bob Herbert, “In America: Leading America Beyond Fear,”
New York Times,
September 24,2001.

117. Richard L. Berke, “A Nation Challenged: The Democrats: Bush Winning Gore Backers’ High Praises,”
New York Times,
October 20, 2001.

118. Ibid.

119. Ibid.

120. Ibid.

121. Ibid.

NOTES,
pp. 148-152
232

122. Jena Heath, “A Look at Bush’s Approach to Intellect,” Cox News Service, November 27, 1999. (Reprinted in the
Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Austin American-Statesman,
and the
Times-Picayune.)

123. Thomas L. Friedman, “Foreign Affairs: George W.’s Makeup Exam,”
New York Times,
November 7,1999.

124. Dan Balz and Bob Woodward, “America’s Chaotic Road to War; Bush’s Global Strategy Began to Take Shape in First Frantic Hours After Attack,”
Washington Post,
January 27, 2002.

125. Bill Nichols, “Followers and Foes Anticipate Bush’s Foreign Policy Speech,”
USA Today,
November 19,1999.

126. Ibid.

127. Thomas L. Friedman, “Foreign Affairs: George W.’s Makeup Exam.”

128. Maureen Dowd, “Liberties: Name That General!”

129. Nancy Gibbs, “Primary Questions.”

130. Jonathan Alter, “National Affairs: Between the Lines,”
Newsweek,
November 22, 1999, p. 47.

131. The Hotline, “People: Cher: If Dubya Wins, She’ll Try to Turn Back Time,”
National Journal,
November 3, 2000.