I drank some mint tea yesterday, as I do on many hot days here on my island. But that's not the only thing I did. I woke up early, went to a wedding reception, did a bit of outdoor photography, made an international phone call, watched some local and world news, surfed the Internet, added a post to my blog, read and answered some e-mail, and so much more. In other words, it was a pretty busy Saturday, and a tall, cool glass of mint tea was a nice way to help put a relaxing end to that day. I'll also let you in on a little secret. Being the multimedia-oriented multitasker that I am, I drank my tea and watched the news simultaneously.

"Just what in tarnation does this have to do with anything, Maddog?!" There is a point. Be patient, and I'll get to it straight away.

I like mint tea a lot, but frankly, I'm getting tired of reading about it, and I hope you are, too. Many websites I've come across recently (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, to point out just a few) have adopted the "mint tea" phrase from Joe Wilson's New York Times article "What I Didn't Find in Africa" (apparently without reading the rest of the article -- sometimes not even reading the whole sentence, for that matter -- or simply choosing to ignore it) as a "talking point" in order to benefit their argument that seems to be desperately trying to say, "Joe Wilson didn't investigate doodly-squat."

These articles read like this:

*1 "[F]rom the sound of his report, 'drinking lots of mint tea' seemed to occupy much of his time." (World Net Daily)
*2 "As Mr. Wilson himself acknowledged, his so-called investigation was nothing more than 'eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people' at the U.S. embassy in Niger." (World Net Daily)
*3 "Then Wilson detailed the guts of his investigation: 'I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people: current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business.' This, in the business, is called 'phoning it in.'" (Cybercast News Service)
*4 "This is the most telling paragraph in that piece: 'I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people: current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business. It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place.' Which is another way of saying he conducted the investigation in this manner: 'Hey anyone seen any yellowcake? No? Okay, I'll go home then.' He'll never make a detective." (ChronWatch)
*5 "As for Wilson's 'investigation,' the ex-ambassador to Gabon based his conclusion on 'eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people' at the U.S. Embassy in Niger. Wow." (The Oregonian) [All emphasis mine]

"Wow" is right! The first World Net Daily article fails to get even the quote itself correct. Here's what Wilson actually said, with a bit more context:

"[Barbro Owens-Kirkpatrick, the United States ambassador to Niger] and I agreed that my time would be best spent interviewing people who had been in government when the deal supposedly took place, which was before her arrival."

"I spent the next eight days drinking sweet mint tea and meeting with dozens of people: current government officials, former government officials, people associated with the country's uranium business. It did not take long to conclude that it was highly doubtful that any such transaction had ever taken place."

"Given the structure of the consortiums that operated the mines, it would be exceedingly difficult for Niger to transfer uranium to Iraq. Niger's uranium business consists of two mines, Somair and Cominak, which are run by French, Spanish, Japanese, German and Nigerian interests. If the government wanted to remove uranium from a mine, it would have to notify the consortium, which in turn is strictly monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency." [Emphasis mine]

Of course there's lots more in the article. There are also many more examples of spin to be found than I can effectively list here. If you haven't read Joe Wilson's article already, go here, and read it for yourself. If you have already read it, read it again to refresh your memory. You'll want to have these details as mental ammunition so you can argue against those who are spinning the facts into something farther from the truth than I currently am from the shores of the U.S. Remember also that the White House made an admission one day after Wilson's article that the infamous "16 words" shouldn't have been in the State of the Union speech. (And please don't try to argue that the sequence of those 2 events was simply a coincidence!)

What all this "tea talk" indicates to me is sheer desperation. Nevertheless, while the truth is still "putting on its shoes," these lies have made their way around the world several times over. Fight these fabrications with flat-out facts.

Would anyone care to join me for a glass of tea and a discussion about revolution? If they take us away to Guantánamo Bay and charge us with sedition, we could always just whine, "But all we were doing was drinking mint tea!"

UPDATE: It may have been so obvious that this angle eluded me, but for people in many countries of northern and sub-Saharan Africa, drinking mint tea is akin to drinking chilled carbonated beverages in North America. To supplement the 12 links included above, here are a few more.

A web page describing Tunisia's customs says, "Personal relationships are important in business, and time is usually spent in light conversation, over tea or coffee, before embarking on business matters. ... Mint tea or fresh lemon or orange juice are typical non-alcoholic drinks. It is polite to accept a drink when offered." Another page -- this one about Morocco -- says, "Mint tea isn't just a drink in Morocco. It is a sign of hospitality and friendship and tradition. Because this drink is so popular -- it is served all day long, after every meal and with every conversation -- Moroccans take great pride in their tea..." Another page about Morocco has this to say: "Mint tea. The country’s national drink, tea is drunk [past participle of the verb "drink," it is not being used as an adjective in this sentence] every hour of the day." Finally, this one refers directly to Niger: "Niger's most popular drink is tea, which is available everywhere from street stalls." [All emphasis mine]

Once again, the tirades against mint tea by the people quoted above (in their articles attempting to denounce Joe Wilson's efforts in pursuit of truth) are ample evidence of the cultural ignorance and/or insensitivity -- as well as their ignorance of what constitutes treason.