Amnesty's Schultz On Gulag: So What?

The conservative blogosphere is alive with the (predictable) news that Amnesty International basically made up its "gulag" claim. (here, here, here) I watched the smarmy William F. Schultz, head of Amnesty USA, on Fox News defending the claim, and came away angry ... and impressed.

Schultz, the former head of the Unitarian Universalist Church, sat in an Americana room, with a fire burning in a Colonial stone fireplace, looking sage in his salt-and-pepper beard. It was a nice backdrop for someone intent on tearing down America by fabricating negatives and overstating them, to the detriment of a foreign policy that he should be supporting. He is for increased freedom, isn't he?

He tried to pass off the "gulag" terminology on Amnesty International in England, but was nailed by Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace, who waived Schultz's own quotes in front of him. Slithery personality that he is, Schultz just side-stepped and shifted.

What impressed me, though, was this exchange at the end of the show, which I'm paraphrasing:

Wallace: So you don't admit that you and Amnesty International overstepped by making claims that you cannot substantiate?

Schultz: Not at all. I'm here on national television with you, aren't I? If I had called you two weeks ago and said, "Chris, I'd like to go on your show and talk about conditions at Guantanamo and other detention facilities," you wouldn't have had me.

Impressive, huh? An admission that Amnesty's leaders will lie all day long if need be, if it gets them air time. I suppose that's what the Universalists mean in their covenant when they say they "covenant to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning."