JUST HOW STUPID ARE WE?

That's the partial title of a book by Rick Shenkman: "Just How Stupid Are We? Facing the Truth About the American Voter" (Basic Books, June 2008). Mr. Shenkman, an Emmy award-winning investigative reporter, is an associate professor of history at George Mason University and editor of the university's History News Network. It is also the title of his blog. The following is a post from June 2, 2009:
"Cheney Finally Admits No Connection Between Saddam and 9-11
"As anyone who has read my book knows, it was the Bush administration's success in making people believe that Saddam was behind 9-11 that triggered my decision to write 'Just How Stupid Are We.'
"Now along comes Dick Cheney to say--7 years too late!-- that Saddam had nothing to do with 9-11. Here's the money quote from CNN:
" 'Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that he does not believe Saddam Hussein was involved in the planning or execution of the September 11, 2001, attacks. He strongly defended the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq, however, arguing that Hussein's previous support for known terrorists was a serious danger after 9/11.'
"Cheney, in an appearance at the National Press Club, also said he is intent on speaking out in defense of the Bush administration's national security record because 'a clear understanding of policies that worked [in protecting the United States] is essential.'
" 'I do not believe and have never seen any evidence to confirm that [Hussein] was involved in 9/11. We had that reporting for a while, [but] eventually it turned out not to be true,' Cheney conceded.'
"He's still insisting that: the evidence was 'overwhelming' that al Qaeda had a relationship with Hussein's regime in Iraq, and that media reports suggesting that the commission investigating the 9/11 attacks reached a contradictory conclusion were 'irresponsible.'
"I guess we couldn't hope for him to completely abandon his ill-considered views. Cheney wants to blame George Tenet and notes that Tenet in open testimony before Congress declared that Saddam and al qaeda had a relationship. But who's Cheney kidding? We know from numerous books that it was his office that was responsible for pushing the Saddam/9-11 angle over the objections of people like Richard Clarke."