Earlier today there were two good posts by MikeNH and CarieNYC on FactCheck.org's calling out the dishonest use of FactCheck.org's information.
There is something deeply disturbing about how the media is used to construct these ads.
McCain is cherry picking quotes from the media to
(1) create any lie he wants;
(2) attribute that lie to a reputable media source.
This is quite different from previous Republican tactics to use the media as a tool to disseminate lies. Behold! The media is now being used as a tool to create lies.
Let's use the example of the "sex education" lie.
Here's the text as you would hear it: Education Week says Obama hasn’t made a significant mark on education. That he’s elusive on accountability. A staunch defender of the existing public school monopoly. Obama’s one accomplishment? Legislation to teach comprehensive sex education to kindergarteners. Learning about sex before learning to read? Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family.
Ok, quick question--What did Education Week say?
As I heard the commercial, Education Week says everything after the word "says." If you look at the commercial, it's a bit different, but I still have the distinct impression, even looking at the commercial, that Education Week endorses everything in the commercial.
Ok, let's try this again. Let's string together some other randomn media opinions to create a basis for a lie, fully supported and endorced by the media.
Announcer: The attacks on Governor Palin have been called "completely false"..."misleading."
On screen: Photo of Obama, FactCheck.org banner, "'completely false' . . . 'misleading' 9/0/08"
And, they've just begun.
The [Wall Street] Journal reports Obama "air-dropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators and opposition researchers" into Alaska to dig dirt on Governor Palin.
As Obama drops in the polls, he'll try to destroy her.
Obama's "politics of hope"? Empty words.
Here's the factcheck.org response, wait for it, another fact-check:
They call the ad "Fact Check." It says "the attacks on Gov. Palin have been called 'completely false' ... 'misleading.' " On screen is a still photo of a grim-faced Obama. Our words are accurately quoted, but they had nothing to do with Obama.
Our article, posted two days earlier, debunked a number of false or misleading claims that have circulated in chain e-mails and Internet postings regarding Palin. There is no evidence that the Obama campaign is behind any of the wild accusations that we critiqued. There is no more basis for attributing these viral attacks to the Obama campaign than there is for blaming the McCain campaign for chain e-mail attacks falsely claiming that Obama is a Muslim, or a "racist," or that he is proposing to tax water. The anti-Palin messages, like the anti-Obama messages, have every appearance of being home-grown.
Digging for "Dirt"
The ad also quotes the Wall Street Journal as saying that the Obama campaign "air-dropped a mini-army of 30 lawyers, investigators and opposition researchers to dig dirt on Governor Palin." That's also a distortion. The Wall Street Journal opinion article did not say that the Obama team was there to "dig dirt." It said they were there do "dig into her record and background." Maybe the McCain-Palin campaign knows something we don't about what's in Palin's record and background.
It almost seems like FactCheck.org, after being misused and abused to support a string of lies, is nominating itself for "Most Toothless Organization in Existance" by merely doing another "fact check." Are we to expect that when the McCain campaign pulls phrases out of context in the above quote and states,
According to FactCheck.org, "Obama is a Muslim, or a 'racist' . . proposing to tax water"! We must stop Obama from taxing precious body fluids.
FactCheck.org will run a "fact-check" on how it has been used and abused again? Certainly, there are members at these publications who are grumbling about the opinions that they are now publically known to hold and support.
Here's two letters that you can send,
Dear Education Week,
I have seen a recent McCain campaign ad which states, "Education Week says Obama hasn’t made a significant mark on education. That he’s elusive on accountability. A staunch defender of the existing public school monopoly. Obama’s one accomplishment? Legislation to teach comprehensive sex education to kindergarteners. Learning about sex before learning to read? Barack Obama. Wrong on education. Wrong for your family. "
Being an educated person, my reading is that everything after the word "says" is your opinion. Is this the editorial opinion of your organization? It certainly reads that way. If it is not your editorial opinion, please demand that the McCain campaign withdrawl this ad.
E-mail: webeditors@epe.org
Address:
Editorial Projects in Education Inc.
Suite 100
6935 Arlington Road
Bethesda, MD 20814-5233
Main phones:
(800) 346-1834
(301) 280-3100
Dear FactCheck.org,
Thank you for doing a Fact Check posting on your site on the McCain ad "Fact-Check." However, the McCain ad "Fact-Check" is still on the internet, and it may be published in many states. Not only does this ad seem as if it is your opinion, it also seem as if you had some role in creating it. After all, the ad is called "Fact-Check" and begins with the quotation and imprimenteur of your organization.
I realize that you did a "Fact-Check" on this ad. However, a mere fact-check is necessary, but not sufficient in this case. The ad is called "Fact-Check," a direct reference to your organization's name. Furthermore, your organization's quotes, logo, website address, introduce the ad. This certainly suggests not only that the content of the ad is the editorial opinion of your organization, but also that your organization had a role in producing the ad.
Please talk to your lawyers, as any use of your logo combined with the use of your organization name as the title of an ad calls into question your tax status as an impartial political organization, not to mention the fact that this ad's existance ridicules your mission.
As I have great respect for your organization and its mission, I assume that you are more enraged at this misappropriation than I am.
I hope that you will take the proper steps to clear your name, and take this ad off the internet and television.
Sincerely,
FactCheck.org
Annenberg Public Policy Center
320 National Press Building
Washington DC 20045
E-Mail:
Editor@FactCheck.org
Telephone: (Annenberg Public Policy Center)
(202) 879-6700
....
Note the serious problem for FactCheck.org written in the letter above: the McCain campaign went to such an extreme that they actually endanger FactCheck.org's status as a tax exempt organization.
I assume that this McCain tactic of pulling media quotes to create and substantiate any lie will continue.
And the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
And if that doesn't get you, you have to power to stop the media from becoming McCain's accomplice in creatign these distortions. They are his victim, and they are waiting for someone to affirm their condition.
It is one thing to having the freedom of the press declared as "off-limits" or "only with deference" in the case of Palin. It is quite another thing to use the press to create lies. We must acknowledge however, that the press has no courage, unless given to it by the people, and that means you.
What will you do?