I've tried to be fair and cool and stuff and maintain decorum, but no mas. I have had just about enough of FDL's cockamamie schemes and manipulations of this community and the facts. Yes; I said mean words. Falme me if you must, but this is just beyond ridiculous.
So, last week, there was an FDL diary about affordability that was roundly -- and rightly -- excoriated for being less-than-accurate and, well, misleading. And what did we find on the recent list today? Another FDL diary touting the exact same info.
Call me crazy, but I find it rather unlikely the FDL team was unaware of the reception the analysis got the first time around. And I find it equally unlikely that an organization wishing to be taken seriously would persist with such obviously slanted perspectives. No; it takes commitment to stand by flawed narratives.
* dons kevlar skivvies *
Why, I do believe there's even a word for it: propaganda.
And I, for one, am sick of dkos being used as a propaganda dump for FDL, which entity has a very, very vested interest in maintaining certain narratives. I could go on and on, but suffice to say, outrage sells. I'll give FDL this: they're certainly outrageous.
So, I was reading a diary earlier that linked to FDL and I clicked the link out of morbid curiosity. Started poking around FDL and was rather bemused to discover they have a "Health Care War Room." It just strikes me as hilarious...health care juxtaposed with war. Anyhoo...
In said War Room, it is claimed that:
Democratic Letter to House Leadership
In July, 60 Democratic Members of Congress signed a letter (PDF) to Speaker Pelosi and House Leadership saying they would vote against a health care bill from conference committee if it didn't have a public option.
But if you click the PDF hyperlink, you quickly discover some interesting things. Namely, that this letter was written in specific response to the bill being worked in the Energy and Commerce Committee. More specifically, it was about an agreement between Waxman and the Blue Dogs.
We write to voice our opposition to the negotiated health care reform agreement under consideration in the Energy and Commerce Committee.
We regard the agreement reached by Chairman Waxman and several Blue Dog members of the Committee as fundamentally unacceptable.
!=
In July, 60 Democratic Members of Congress signed a letter (PDF) to Speaker Pelosi and House Leadership saying they would vote against a health care bill from conference committee if it didn't have a public option.
They don't say anything about their vote on any final bill. All the letter says is that the current-at-the-time proposals out of the Energy and Commerce Committee and a final bill without a Public Option were "unacceptable." The only thing they say about voting at all is this:
In short, this agreement will result in the public, both as insurance purchasers and as taxpayers, paying ever higher rates to insurance companies.
We simply cannot vote for such a proposal.
I italicized those two phrases for clarity: by "such a proposal," they mean "this agreement," which is the aforementioned deal between Waxman and the Blue Dogs. They are saying they cannot vote for the Waxman-Blue Dog deal.
More importantly, though, you'll notice that the letter simply does not contain the word "conference." Not once.
60 Democratic Members of Congress signed a letter (PDF) to Speaker Pelosi and House Leadership saying they would vote against a health care bill from conference committee if it didn't have a public option
That's just a tad misleading, don't you think? Oh...there's that word again.
But, but...the pledge! She whipped all those house member votes and "16 progressive Members of Congress pledged to vote against any bill without a public option that was available nationwide and on day one."
Well, guess what? All 16 people on that pledge page voted for the House HCR bill. All of 'em.
!=
16 progressive Members of Congress pledged to vote against any bill without a public option that was available nationwide and on day one.
So, what's going on here? You mean to tell me that Jane et al at FDL are not aware that every single pledge taker voted for the House bill, despite its lack of nationwide availability on day one? Why is this pledge still being spoken of as the last best hope to save HCR or even the Public Option?
How can it possibly be effective organizing and activism to push inaccurate narratives?
So, seriously, what's going on here? Why are we consistently being told tales that are so demonstrably false? Yes; these are all rhetorical questions. I don't quite care what or why, really, although I do have my theories.
I just want it to stop. Please, dear kossacks, please stop handing over the rec list to FDL and its paid storytellers. (hat tip to CatM)
♥