More Lies from Slate

Eric Alterman reads Slate and finds yet more lies:

The Blog | Eric Alterman: 655,000 Dead: Reporting the Reporting | The Huffington Post:[T]he madman, Hitchens, writes in Slate:

The Lancet figures are almost certainly inflated, not least because they were taken from selective war-torn provinces. But there is no reason why they may not come to reflect reality more closely. It is a reminder of the nature of the enemy we face, and not only in Iraq, and a very clear picture of the sort of people who would have a free hand in Iraq if the coalition were to depart.

In fact, the first claim is flat-out false. The study specifically did not pick particularly violent provinces, as Hitchens could have discovered if he looked at the study, not that he gives any impression of having any experience with this type of statistical sampling.

Why oh why can't we have a better press corps?