While eating lunch today, I watched a debate on Democracy Now! between someone from Amnesty International and a conservative lawyer who’s held various positions in US Republican governments. The debate, which was fascinating, was about the recent Amnesty International report on human rights, which included criticisms of the United States, especially the “archipelago” of US prisons around the globe, including many secret facilities where people are held incommunicado.

But a part of it made me laugh, right near the beginning (watch the part I mean by clicking here, RealPlayer required), where Bush is giving a press conference and a journalist asks him about the report. The quote that made me laugh:

“They base some of their decisions on the word of…people who have been trained, in some instances, to disassemble – that means to not tell the truth.”

Except that’s not what disassemble means. “Disassemble” means to take apart. “Dissemble” means to lie.

Looks like the catapult misfired on this particular piece of propaganda.

While we’re on quotes, here’s an original that popped into my head today:

“If we really lived each day like it was our last, our last day would come a lot sooner.”