Vicious slander exposed.

No, not the Slow Boat Republicans for Bush or whoever they are and their latest slam against John Kerry. I tend to agree with Kevin Drum on that one when he says "These people are certifiable lunatics, and I just can't stand the thought of wasting neurons over them." To the degree that a response to their "dishonest and dishonorable" nonsense is necessary, I'm happy to leave it to John McCain and Jim Rassman.

Nope, I'm talking about MSNBC hack Steve Emerson, who launched a particulary deceptive slur against Nancy Pelosi on fellow hack Joe Scarborough's sorry excuse for a show.

Media Matters has the goods. They tell us that Emerson...

"...stated that there are "radical groups that have met with Congress or that have been embraced by political officials, but that have a jihadist agenda," and singled out House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who met two weeks ago with representatives of the controversial group the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and with leaders of other American Muslim groups.

What Emerson failed to mention is that on June 17, Secretary of State Colin Powell also met with CAIR executive director Nihad Awad, and other Muslim groups, according to Frank J. Gaffney Jr. in his June 22 Washington Times column. In addition, Salon.com reported on September 26, 2001, that "[l]ess than a week after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Bush appeared at the Islamic Center in Washington, standing with various leaders of Muslim groups like the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Muslim Council (AMC)." The American Muslim Political Coordinating Council Political Action Committee, of which the CAIR is a member, endorsed George W. Bush for president in 2000.

So what's the story? That Nancy Pelosi is somehow in league with George Bush and Colin Powell?

Now that would be a slanderous accusation!