THE LYING? IT'S STRICTLY BUSINESS.

Via Rumproast and Atrios, I see from Media Matters that World Net Daily is lying about Nidal Hasan to tar the Obama administration (in an article written by Swift Boat liar and birther Jerome Corsi) -- but Media Matters leaves out one key detail, without which you don't know how deeply cynical WND's lie is:

WorldNetDaily falsely claimed that alleged Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan "advised Obama transition" in the headline of an article by Jerome Corsi highlighting his listing as a "participant" in a report for the Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) at George Washington University's Presidential Transition Task Force. However, Corsi himself acknowledges that there is no evidence that "the group played any formal role in the official Obama transition" -- indeed, the Task Force was initiated in April 2008. Moreover, while Hasan was listed as one of approximately 300 "Task Force Event Participants" in the report's appendix, HSPI has reportedly said he was not a "member" of the Task Force, and was listed because he RSVP'd for several of the group's open events.

Here's the WND article. Now, why is WND all over this non-story? Scroll to the end:

According to an explosive new book, "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," Hasan is just the tip of a jihadist Fifth Column operating within the ranks of the U.S. military -- which is too blinded by political correctness to see the threat.

... Quoting from a classified military briefing, "Muslim Mafia" reveals that this Fifth Column has penetrated "every branch of the U.S. military." The Islamist enemy has even infiltrated the al-Qaida detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Special offer:

Get "Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America," autographed, from WND's Superstore.

This isn't just a book WND is promoting and selling, it's a book WND published just last month. WND has been promoting the crap out of it ever since -- as have the likes of Pajamas Media and (in a Denver Post op-ed) congressman and former presidential candidate Tom Tancredo. WND got up to #16 at Amazon -- but it's currently down to #211, so some serious hype is obviously called for.

And if the administration is the victim of a vicious McCarthyite smear? Well, it's strictly business.