Chris Matthews' "big number" tonight was 61. That is, 61 percent of Democrats apparently told Rasmussen, a Republican polling outfit, that George W. Bush knew something about the 9/11 attacks and didn't do anything to prevent them.
And therefore Matthews' too-cute conclusion was that there are crazy people "on both sides."
Nope. Wrong. At least, not based on this particular false equivalency.
As I wrote this morning, the Birther movement is uniquely crazy in that it's motivated strictly by racial and ethnic bigotry and there is zero evidence to back up their ridiculous, bigoted claim.
And George W. Bush was, in fact, aware that -- what's the phrase? -- Bin Laden was determined to attack inside the U.S. using hijacked airplanes, and he didn't do anything to prevent it. Oh, and when told that America was under attack, he sat in a classroom petrified for nine minutes. So Rasmussen's question was loaded and vague and open to broad interpretation.
Suck it, Matthews.