"To base one's decisions on the facts required that one get the facts before making decisions."

Don't be ridiculous! Where would George Bush be today if he had ever done that?

(grin)

The tough don't gather facts! The tough make decisions, baby, tough decisions based on unalterable dogma and unshakeable faith in their own rightness! Then they sift through all the available facts, rumours, and non-facts, and outright lies to find whatever they can there that might appear to support their decisions.

That is standard procedure in power politics.