Collect the Accountable!!!

#7: The Talking Head

Name: William (Bill) Kristol
Age: 55
Bats: Right

Most famous phrase: "There's been a certain amount of pop sociology in America ... that the Shia can't get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There's almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq's always been very secular." (NPR, 4/1/2003)

Honorable mention: "I think we'll be vindicated when we discover the weapons of mass destruction and when we liberate the people of Iraq." (ABC News, 3/10/2003)

What he needs to account for:

1- Prewar attempts to connect Saddam and 9/11

2- Claiming that Iraq is not in the middle of a civil war.

3- Massively misleading comments about Scooter Libby's involvement with the Valerie Plame leak case.

4- Nonsensical attempts to get around the WMD issue. (Shorter Kristol: If they're gone, can you prove they didn't go elsewhere?)

5- Stating that it is "irresponsible" for those who disagree with his war to publicly state disagreements during said war.

6- Stating that it is impossible for those who disagree with his surge to support the troops.

7- Claiming that "No one believes the inspections can work." before we went to war with Iraq.

8- Stating that a war in Iraq would "start a chain reaction in the Arab world that would be very healthy" and that it "could have terrifically good effects throughout the Middle East." (Keep in mind that this is the same guy who said sectarian violence wasn't likely.)

9- Claiming that "very few wars in American history were prepared better or more thoroughly than this one by this president."

10- You can read more of Kristol's misstatements here.

Mr. Kristol teaches at Harvard. He edits the Weekly Standard. He's a Fox News All Star. As if a political magazine, an elite college, and a 24-hour news channel weren't enough, he also is an op-ed columnist at the New York Times (this isn't his 1st op-ed gig; he used to write thinly veiled save-my-own-ass editorials about the president for the Washington Post). Last year at this time he could be found running around saying that our new Serious Strategy (a.k.a. The Surge) has finally allowed us to turn the corner and make progress in Iraq.

Career Stats:

- Evil Plus Snideness (EPS) percentage: .980
- Incorrect Statement Average (ISA): .322
- ISA+ (media saturation): .410

Notes:

Always the team player, Bill is never afraid to step into the fray--no matter how long the odds--to take a swing at the opposition. Apparently lacking either self-esteem or personal awareness (maybe both), Bill's love of the long shot--all the while with an ear-to-ear grin on his face--is his trademark play. He can currently be found blubbering about the need to stand up to Russia.