Sometimes generals lie. But I have yet to see a politician win any points by accusing a general of lying. In Paul Ryan’s case, even his apology is a second round of calling the generals liars. But what is Ryan supposed to do? He can admit to misspeaking, but he can’t admit to being flat-out wrong.
Why can’t he admit he was wrong? Because he is trying to explain why his budget increases defense spending while the Pentagon has agreed to cut spending by a half a trillion dollars over the next decade. So, there has to be something wrong with the generals’ testimony. If their testimony is honest, Ryan has no explanation for his budget numbers.
It is of course possible that the generals testified falsely because they are doing what the president wants them to do. Ryan hinted at that. But when that line of attack turned out to be inoperative, he decided to just call them stupid.
