As I’ve written many times, the plague of modern political journalism is reporters’ unwillingness to aggressively fact-check the claims made by politicians (see All the President’s Spin for more).

So it’s a little depressing to see Entertainment Weekly doing a better job of fact-checking Tom Cruise than the political press does with President Bush (via Defamer):

EW: You are aware that your views about psychiatry come across as pretty radical to a lot of people.

CRUISE: In the 1980s, you were supposed to say no to drugs. But when I say no to drugs, I’m a radical? ‘He’s against drugs — he’s a radical! He’s against electroshock treatments — he’s a radical!’ [Laughing] It’s absurd!

EW: Yeah, but Scientology textbooks sometimes refer to psychiatry as a ”Nazi science”…

CRUISE: Well, look at the history. Jung was an editor for the Nazi papers during World War II. [According to Aryeh Maidenbaum, the director of the New York Center for Jungian Studies, this is not true.] Look at the experimentation the Nazis did with electric shock and drugging. Look at the drug methadone. That was originally called Adolophine. It was named after Adolf Hitler… [According to the Dictionary of Drugs and Medications, among other sources, this is an urban legend.]

Just a savage beatdown. I love it.