It's always a hoot to see these left-wingnuts twist themselves into pretzel shapes, invoking Kerry-like "nuances" to try to pretend they said something other than what they said. It's another tactic to try to shift the discussion from the vileness of their elected officials such as Lantos, to relatively harmless subjects such as "whether I really meant that or not". No wonder nobody listens to them any more.
Back to the subject:
What goes around is now starting to come around. The Democrats have invested their entire party in an agenda of bashing Bush for anything and everything he does, no matter whether good (judicial appointments, tax cuts, sticking with the war against terrorists and the countries that support them) or bad (govt spending, signing CFR, having the wrong facial expression when told about the 9/11 attacks).
Now that the enemy in Iraq is starting to lose, all the Dems' screeching insistence that Bush can't do anything right, is in danger of being shown for the lies they always were. And the Dems can't tolerate such a thing: Their entire agenda depends on people NOT finding out how hollow and disingenuous they are. One crack in the dam will result in a flood that will destroy them, and they know it.
Hence the kind of hysterical denial that Lantos displayed, thrown up earlier and earlier until they are spewing it out before reports even come out. Such frantic pre-denial is common on boards like this one, of course, from people like Mainman who have no responsibilities to protect, dignity to shield, or factual basis to respect. Understandably, it only shows up later in elected officials who still have some shreds of a reputation they haven't yet thrown away (well, some of them, I don't include Shiela Jackson Lee or Ted Kennedy here). But show up it will, sooner or later... and now appears to be the time when their desperate denials, accusations, and smears penetrate their facade of decency.
It hasn't been comfortable to be a Democrat for a while now. Too much is unravelling, too many promises are being shown as unfulfilled, too much truth has been coming out about the utter failure of their agenda and philosophy. Unfortunately for those who keep sticking to the party, it will only get worse.