Four Pinocchios

This is a week old now, but worth mentioning. I normally don’t much care for media rating systems like Politfact, but when the Washington Post decided to aim its guns at Little Tommy Friedman and his penchant for using false historical analogies to press his foreign policy aims (that are mysteriously incredibly influential on Capitol Hill), it’s hard to resist. Basically, Friedman decided to “quote” Dean Rusk in reference to current relations between the U.S. and Putin’s Russia, saying during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when Soviet ships supposedly came within a few miles of the U.S. naval blockade, “We’re eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked.”

Problem–the entire scenario was fabricated in Bobby Kennedy’s memoir. Does Friedman care that this is a falsehood? No, he does not care. Because he wants it to be true because toughness is a virtue and if he has to go all The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance about myths, well, print the legend. And if that causes U.S. relations with Russia to decline, great.

Thus, four Pinocchios for Friedman.

Thanks to BlueLoom for the link.