CNN’s Cafferty Unleashes Tirade About Perception “We Were Lied To” Before Iraq War

The stunt by Senate Democrats who forced the chamber into closed session so they could get publicity for demands for an immediate probe into administration use of pre-war intelligence, earned a favorable tirade Tuesday afternoon from CNN’s Jack Cafferty who charged that “there's a perception in this country that we were lied to about the run-up to the war in Iraq.” Most believe they were “lied” to? More like Cafferty channeled the claims of the radical left. Cafferty proceeded to concede that “maybe we were, and maybe we weren't, but there are a lot of people who think we were.” Cafferty rued, as if WMDs were the only reason for the war: “A half a trillion dollars and 2,000 of our kids later, we're still there. We're mired in a thing that has no visible end” and so “if they lied to us, if there was some kind of intent to deceive, then they ought to find out who did it, and tear their fingernails out, and then get rid of them.” He insisted that “it's about what's right and what's wrong and what people who are entrusted to govern this country do with the power we give them. If it's being abused, we damn well have a right to know, and something should be done about it.”

Transcript follows. Video excerpt: Real or Windows Media

The MRC’s Megan McCormack noticed that about five minutes before 4pm EST Tuesday, while the Senate was still in closed-session, CNN’s Jack Cafferty in New York came aboard the Washington, DC-based The Situation Room to recount some e-mail responses to his question of the hour, "Is it wrong for the Democrats to shut down the Senate?” He admitted it was an inaccurately worded question since the Senate was not shut down and proceeded to read six e-mails: four supportive of the Democratic move, one which called it a Democratic “stunt” and one in which the writer just quipped: “Do you really think anyone will notice?”

Cafferty then launched this tirade: "You know, I get a lot of mail. And depending on what we read, they say you’re a conservative, you’re a liberal; you’re a Republican, you’re a Democrat. This isn’t about any of that stuff, I don’t think. It’s about what’s right and what’s wrong. There’s a perception in this country that we were lied to about the run-up to the war in Iraq. Maybe we were, and maybe we weren’t, but there are a lot of people who think we were. And a half a trillion dollars and 2,000 of our kids later, we’re still there. We’re mired in a thing that has no visible end. If it was necessary, and if the threats were real, fine and dandy. But if they lied to us, if there was some kind of intent to deceive, then they ought to find out who did it, and tear their fingernails out, and then get rid of them. And it’s not about being, you know, on one side of the political spectrum or the other. It’s about what’s right and what’s wrong and what people who are entrusted to govern this country do with the power we give them. If it’s being abused, we damn well have a right to know, and something should be done about it. Wolf?"

Blitzer: "All right, Jack Cafferty speaking his mind, as he always does here in The Situation Room."