There is so much sludge in politics that a thinking mind would conclude no one needs to make anything up. In other words, lie.

Not one side is immune from asserting the “stupid,” so why do certain people or sects feel the unhinged need to lie?

There’s enough “stupid” out there that merely jumping on truthful occurrences should suffice. For instance: Republican Todd Akin asserting in August 2012 that in a “legitimate rape” a woman’s body has a way of shutting down; therefore the act rarely ends in a pregnancy. Yep. Stupid defined.

This leads to a recent letter to the editor published in a Los Angeles-area newspaper wherein the author asserts that “a top intelligence person” publicly said, “The Iraq war was not the result of an intelligence goof – rather the country’s top office systematically misled the public about Iraq’s WMD program.”

The writer continued with the myth that Mike Morell, former CIA deputy director, “Bush’s intelligence briefer,” was interviewed on the MSNBC show, “Hardball,” where he “admitted that the administration intentionally misrepresented intelligence.”

Here’s the finale: “These people are war criminals and should be tried.”

This slop is the antithesis of fact and truth.

Check out the truth online; check out the interview’s video; check out CNN’s Jake Trapper’s take on this, and take a look at Newsmax. Additionally, one can review the interview between Fox’s Chris Wallace and liberal journalist Bob Woodward who notably told the world about Watergate and his Deep Throat contacts; hardly a conservative.

Woodward completed an 18-month investigation on the falsehood of “Bush-WMD lies.” He concluded Bush did not lie and in fact he was “skeptical” of going into Iraq, but it was the “momentum” of a shocked nation after 9/11.

Woodward acknowledged mistakes happened but asserted, “Don’t let anyone stretch the case on WMD.” He also pointed out that it was a mistake for the Obama administration to take the troops out of Iraq rather than leave “an insurance policy” of 10,000 to 15,000 troops, like the military commanders offered.

In reality, Morell said the Bush administration did not tell the CIA to push a WMD story.  He said: “We didn’t have to be pushed there because we already believed it. The best way to prove that to you is to tell you that we told President (Bill) Clinton the same thing before George Bush ever came into office.”

So, tell us that again … who lied?

Betty Arenson has lived in the SCV since 1968 and describes herself as a conservative who’s concerned about progressives’ politics and their impacts on the country, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She says she is unashamed to own a gun or a Bible, couldn’t care less about the color of the president’s skin, and demands that he uphold his oath to protect and follow the Constitution of the United States in its entirety.