In an August 10 article about Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman's attacks on Connecticut Democratic Senate nominee Ned Lamont, the Associated Press quoted Lieberman's use of the recently foiled terrorist plot in Britain to bash Lamont, but the article omitted Lieberman's statement, made at the same appearance, that using national security issues for political purposes is “just unacceptable and in my opinion un-American.”

From the August 10 Associated Press article:

He [Lieberman] seized on the terror plot in Britain to criticize Lamont's opposition to the war in Iraq.

“I'm worried that too many people, both in politics and out, don't appreciate the seriousness of the threat to American security and the evil of the enemy that faces us -- more evil or as evil as Nazism and probably more dangerous than the Soviet communists we fought during the long Cold War,” Lieberman said.

“If we just pick up like Ned Lamont wants us to do, get out [of Iraq] by a date certain, it will be taken as a tremendous victory by the same people who wanted to blow up these planes in this plot hatched in England. It will strengthen them and they will strike again.”

Lieberman's attacks on Lamont closely resemble comments made by prominent Republicans. For example, according to the Los Angeles Times, Vice President Dick Cheney said Lamont's primary victory over Lieberman “might encourage 'the al-Qaida types' who want to 'break the will of the American people in terms of our ability to stay in the fight and complete the task.' ”

The Associated Press did not note the similarity between Lieberman's rhetoric and that of Republicans like Cheney. And, despite being an article about a political campaign, it did not note that Lamont's views on Iraq are more popular with the American people than are the views shared by Lieberman and President Bush.

Most incredibly, the Associated Press omitted from its report another comment Lieberman reportedly made at the same Waterbury event. In that comment, Lieberman harshly denounced the use of national security to score political points -- something that he himself did in his attack on Lamont.

The New York Times' Empire Zone blog reported:

Asked by a reporter about warm praise that Mr. Lieberman received yesterday from Vice President Dick Cheney, the senator tried to underscore his independence in politics.

“I'm not saying we shouldn't have healthy disagreement and discussion about national security, but to make it into a partisan political football, it's just unacceptable and in my opinion un-American,” he said.