Incompetent/lazy, malevolent, or just plain stupid? You decide:
Nelson Mandela is still very much alive despite an embarrassing gaffe by U.S. President George W. Bush, who alluded to the former South African leader's death in an attempt to explain sectarian violence in Iraq.No, it's not Bush who's the moron here. As others have pointed out, this "Saddam killed all the Mandelas in Iraq" concept has been around for at least two weeks--Amb. Crocker talked about it in his testimony to Congress, and Bush mentioned it to the milbloggers in his meeting with them last week. Why in the world is it suddenly twisted and front page news?"It's out there. All we can do is reassure people, especially South Africans, that President Mandela is alive," Achmat Dangor, chief executive officer of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, said as Bush's comments received worldwide coverage.
The worst part? This story is has been created by the internationally-respected (though not among milbloggers) news service Reuters. Just unbelievable.
UPDATE: This may have started with Jon Stewart. More evidence of those "professional" journalists who are trained to research, fact-check, and lay out context for the unenlightened masses, I guess.
