An article in today's L.A. Times, entitled "Veering from the truth? It works." does a reasonably good job of reviewing some of the bigger whoppers of the McCain campaign. Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. No doubt in an effort to be "even-handed," the article goes on to suggest that Obama is also guilty (read "just as guilty") of the practice, and that both candidates do it because it works.
This is yet another example of the Trad Media's pussy-footing pursuit of "fair and balanced" reporting, which ends up enabling the McCain's disinformation campaign even as it tries to call McCain on it.
Here's a link to the article:
http://www.latimes.com/...
And here's how I responded in a letter to the Times:
Regarding "Veering from the Truth? It Works," (9/14/08), if the point of this article was to clarify things for the frustrated, confused voter, it only further muddies the waters. By making the case that both major candidates fudge the facts -- by offering that, in effect, "they all do it" -- the Times takes this important ethical consideration out of the equation altogether. The truth (which still matters to some of us) is that when it comes to using distortion as a campaign strategy, there's a huge difference between the two major candidates. John McCain, once the self-appointed conductor of the "Straight Talk Express," has now turned to distortion and outright falsehood as his principal tactic. Every ad he runs, every speech he makes, includes at least one significant departure from the truth, a strategy that reached an all-tme low when he accused Barack Obama of advocating for a law that would bring "comprehensive sex education" to kindergarteners, when in fact the legislation in question provided for parentally approved lessons to protect young children from sexual predators. McCain campaign lies also led to the unprecedented need for FactCheck.Org to upbraid him for using one of its own items to level false accusations against the Obama campaign. Now Sarah Palin has climbed aboard the "Forked Tongue Express" and is contributing her own daily dose of whoppers to the Disinformation Campaign.
Is the Obama campaign occasionally guilty of shading the truth? No doubt. But over all Obama continues to try to deliver what he has promised to the American people: a campaign based on the issues, a rejection of old-school politics based on character assassination and Swiftboat smearing. Meanwhile, the sheer number and the outrageous nature of the McCain campaign's distortions and falsehoods has brought the 2008 presidential campaign to a new low. By trying to be "fair and balanced" in its investigation of this matter, the Times has abdicated its responsibility to give voters a clear sense of the differences between the two candidates.
We can't let stuff like this lie there unchallenged. Be vigilant in calling the media on its B.S.