The Washington Post has a good article out today detailing the ridiculously rapid increase in boldfaced lying by the presidential campaigns since the conventions. Of course it's not unsurprising that politicians would try to upstage each other in this fashion; throughout the campaign false rumors have been spread through the news media and Internet (see "Obama studied at a madrassa", "McCain thinks the economy is sound" or factcheck.org). What is shocking now is the degree to which the candidates (mostly McCain) are spouting more outrageous lies and more importantly, the powerful effect these lies are having on voters. Jonathan Weisman of the Post wrote:
As the presidential campaign moves into a final, heated stretch, untrue accusations and rumors have started to swirl at a pace so quick that they become regarded as fact before they can be disproved.
Some of the recent lies being pushed onto the American public by the candidates fall into the old category of misleading rumors and gossip that are not really that important for voters' decisions in November. The attention given to Obama claims about Palin's position on the "Bridge to Nowhere" and if she really did sell the gubernatorial jet on eBay are for the most part efforts by the media to keep politics on everyone's mind so that their commentators can analyze it. Yet more significant lies have started to enter the national political consciousness, and these lies may cause a great deal of harm.
Most notably, the Post article details how McCain's consistent yet false claim that Obama will raise taxes has found resonance among Ameriacns, as a recent poll found that 51% of Americans believed Obama would raise their taxes (even though his plan exempts all who earn under $250,000 and actually reduces taxes for low-income househoklds). While McCain is by all accounts lying in regards to Obama's tax plan, the media's obsession with sound-bytes and TV ads allow his comments to become fact. Obama of course engages in the same activity (to a much lesser degree), as he continues to use McCain's quote that the "economy is fundamentally sound" despite it being months old, and McCain's consistent claims these days that the economy is experiencing difficulty.
The modern political TV advertising machine has no need for citations or references, and so candidates (and the political media apparatus) can basically say anything in a strong and uncompromising way and it becomes the major story of the day. Discovering the truth of certain policies or claims are left up to individual reporters, bloggers or campaign aides, and their fact-based and nuanced rebuttals necessarily lack the attention and glamor of the initial declaration. Perhaps the most over-the-top example of lying is McCain's recent TV ad denigrating Obama's education policy because he, in their words, wants kids to learn "about sex before learning how to read". Anyone with a shred of intelligence (like the writers at TPM) can easily see that McCain's campaign is completely misleading the public with this ad, as it references Obama's support for an Illinois' bill that merely emphasized adding instruction on sexual disease prevention to existing sexual education in schools (in addition to strengthening protections against sexual predators). Yet if you go to any of the articles online citing this ad, you see hundreds of comments exclaiming how sick Obama is for making kindergarteners learn about sex!
Most notably, the Post article details how McCain's consistent yet false claim that Obama will raise taxes has found resonance among Ameriacns, as a recent poll found that 51% of Americans believed Obama would raise their taxes (even though his plan exempts all who earn under $250,000 and actually reduces taxes for low-income househoklds). While McCain is by all accounts lying in regards to Obama's tax plan, the media's obsession with sound-bytes and TV ads allow his comments to become fact. Obama of course engages in the same activity (to a much lesser degree), as he continues to use McCain's quote that the "economy is fundamentally sound" despite it being months old, and McCain's consistent claims these days that the economy is experiencing difficulty.
The modern political TV advertising machine has no need for citations or references, and so candidates (and the political media apparatus) can basically say anything in a strong and uncompromising way and it becomes the major story of the day. Discovering the truth of certain policies or claims are left up to individual reporters, bloggers or campaign aides, and their fact-based and nuanced rebuttals necessarily lack the attention and glamor of the initial declaration. Perhaps the most over-the-top example of lying is McCain's recent TV ad denigrating Obama's education policy because he, in their words, wants kids to learn "about sex before learning how to read". Anyone with a shred of intelligence (like the writers at TPM) can easily see that McCain's campaign is completely misleading the public with this ad, as it references Obama's support for an Illinois' bill that merely emphasized adding instruction on sexual disease prevention to existing sexual education in schools (in addition to strengthening protections against sexual predators). Yet if you go to any of the articles online citing this ad, you see hundreds of comments exclaiming how sick Obama is for making kindergarteners learn about sex!
Obama's campaign fought back with their own statement, but instead of setting the record straight with the real facts, they accuse McCain as "lacking in honor". While I'm all for the Obama campaign taking a more direct approach to rebutting lies from McCain's side, wouldn't it be more effective to dispute the ad and explain the Truth to the American public (if the media would also let them)? The sad thing is that for many Americans, the Truth may not even matter anymore.
UPDATE (9/10/08): The New York Times released an article today strongly fact-checking McCain's sex education ad, writing that the ad "seriously distorts [Obama's] record". Yet a spokesman for McCain retorts that Obama "did not and cannot" dispute the content of the ad---are you kidding me?!
Also, just wanted to just wanted to welcome you all to the blog, and hope that some of my rants and ramblings connect with you (or at least elicit some response). Comments are always welcome and appreciated, as well as any suggestions to improve the blog. Alright, I'm back to the desk (and "Amended and Restated Subordination Agreements"...don't ask!).
1 comment:
Rock on.
Unfortunately, we are faced with a public that has managed to believe that the world was created in 7 days in the face of some pretty contrary scientific evidence. No video or article can make them see something that they do not want to.
Truth no longer has a place when faith corrupted by propaganda and corporate interest has a country by its ba**s. If someone like Sarah Palin is able to raise conservative ratings, its because rationality and truth are alien concepts for half the population.
"Values" have united people in such a terrifying way that if truth and logic cannot hold a candle to them, what effect can the "liberal media" really have? People from within the conservative bastion (leaders, media) need to mutiny against this new wave to shake voters out of their opiated stupor.
Post a Comment