Frank Rich Drivel

Why do I read this guy's column? Am I a masochist?

Sometimes, I find the inanity of his ramblings amusing. Sometimes, I marvel that the New York Times has him on the payroll. Other times, his columns make me angry. This is definitely one of those times.

In his May 29 piece, "Ground Zero Is So Over," Rich resorts to outright lies in order to get his hate-filled message across. It's as if he occupies an entirely different universe. He is so far to the left that I think it must be an act. Spewing the ultra-liberal line is his meal ticket. He can't really believe the things he writes. Does anyone buy his drivel? The scary thing is some people do.

What's really disgusting about this particular column is that he accuses President Bush and the Republicans of exploiting ground zero for political purposes, when Rich is actually the one using it to further his fringe leftist agenda.

Rich claims "ground zero was tossed aside like a fading mistress" after the election. He cites the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower as pure unadulterated farce and concludes that this is a metaphor for the war in Iraq.

Rich writes:

But what has most separated America from the old exigencies of 9/11 - and therefore from the fate of ground zero - is, at long last, the decoupling of the war on terror from the war on Iraq. The myth fostered by the administration that Saddam Hussein conspired in the 9/11 attacks is finally dead and so, apparently, is the parallel myth that Iraqis were among that day's hijackers. Our initial, post-9/11 war against Al Qaeda - the swift and decisive victory over the Taliban - is now seen as both a discrete event and ancient history (as is the hope of nailing Osama bin Laden dead or alive); Afghanistan itself has fallen off the American radar screen except as a site for burgeoning poppy production and the deaths of detainees in American custody. In its place stands only the war in Iraq, which is increasingly seen as an add-on to the war provoked by 9/11 and whose unpopularity grows by the day.

The guy is completely misrepresenting the facts. The Bush administration didn't foster a myth that Saddam Hussein was part of the 9/11 attacks. The left has fostered the myth that Bush made that connection. He very clearly did not.

What high-ranking White House official ever said that Iraqis were among the hijackers? NO ONE DID. EVER. We knew within days the identities of the hijackers. There names were made public. What is Rich talking about? Rich creates myths about people creating myths. Why? Because his pretend world fits his conceptions about Bush as the true evil-doer. Reality presents a different picture, one the leftist elite don't like to admit exists. Bush is not the evil one in the real world.

I believe Rich's claim that "Afghanistan itself has fallen off the American radar screen" is enough evidence to have him certified insane. Where was Rich when the rest of us were following Laura Bush's travels there a week ago? Where was Rich when Afghan President Karzai visited Washington? It was just a couple of days ago.

Here's Rich's problem: Afghanistan has fallen off HIS radar screen. In addition, only Rich and his fellow libs operated under the goofy Saddam Hussein myths he claims Bush perpetuated.

Reality and Frank Rich don't mix well.