Kind of like the false equivalency of McCain saying his voting with Bush is just like Obama's voting with Democrats...

One interesting side note - didn't Rick Whatshisname (McSleazeball's campaign manager) say that the campaign will decide whether or not Palin appears on interviews, and will do so only if the interviewer is "deferential"?

That sounds like Getting elected first, Country second to me... (feel free to use that slogan).

He doesn't "have" to strive for any such thing. He CHOOSES to. Don't let this assholes off the hook.

Steve Benen is shocked, shocked, that the corporate-owned mass media is enabling, aiding and abetting the brazen, sickening, sleazy, preposterous lies of the Republican candidate, while simultaneously inventing fake, phony pretexts for saying "oh, well, they are both doing it".

Steve, are you too young to remember the 2000 and 2004 campaigns? Or perhaps you slept through them? When the corporate-owned mass media did EXACTLY the same thing?

OT to Steve:

Can this clunky comment software be improved?

Something where we can refresh comments without clicking out of the comment window, then finding the respective blog post, then clicking again and scrolling down?

Thanks.

Nice to see you permanently at PA, btw. Cheers.

The thing that pissed me was the Alaska Independence Party whitewash. Palin's husband's membership, her attendance at rallys, and even addressing their conference THIS YEAR, isn't exactly a factcheck.com clean bill of health. The Washington Post is a rag these days. This article was trash.

How about change?

Obama and McCain both now say they will bring change.

But Palin is using an interesting phrase "change happens".

She has used it specifically in relation to the Iraq war.

I thought it was "sh*t happens".

But the idea that change just happens is a pretty low an undefined kind of change. Is that what she expect if she becomes VP. Change happens?

Also, what is the deal with earmarks being a sign of corruption? They are not illegal.

A headline in a major newspaper is the SAME THING as a comment at Daily Kos.

Well actually the comment at DKos might have more readers. heh.

politics. "You know who ends up losing at the end of the day? It's not the Democratic candidate or the Republican candidate, it's you, the American people...I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies, and phony outrage, and Swift Boat politics. These are serious times and they call for a serious debate."

Barack

great response.

...if Obama co-sponsored an Illinois measure on expanding charter schools in Chicago, and then tells voters that he supported a measure to expand charter schools in Chicago, why is it an "exaggeration"?

Steve, Steve... you totally misunderstood Weisman's comment. He was chastising Obama for stating that he merely "supported" the measure, instead of taking credit for actually "co-sponsoring" the measure (which is, if I may add, quite significantly a non-controversial measure).

Any other reading of Weisman's comment would assume that he's a total tool and an idiot to boot. Now, the WP would not hire such a person to write about the campaign. Right? Right?

Did I mention the measure was, like totally, non-controversial?
____________________________________________

Why do they need a "truth/brute squad" when groups like Factcheck.org are doing it for them?

oh wait, Factcheck is non-partisan, apparently not good enough for the GOPRove brand.

-earmarks are not illegal, but playing it flase that you are against them when you hire a lobbyist to get them, and get more per capita than other states is disingenuous.
Lying is not illegal, but lying under oath is.
We'll see what rolls out with Mrs. Palin ( tho I wouldn't be surprised if she pulls some loophole executive play and puts a straw figure in her place)

The sex ed TV ad smacks of Willy Horton, ala Lee Atwater. I think Rove, Lee's #1 apprentice, is as active as ever.

Maybe you are expecting journalism out of the Washington Post? I read that article and was dismayed. I wasn't surprised, just dismayed.

I reread the paragraph about charter schools three times and couldn't figure out what the guy was talking about. He obviously co-sponsored a bill to expand charter schools. It is not an exaggeration for him to say he supported expanding charter schools in Chicago.

It finally struck me. The author was assisted by some embed with the McCain campaign. Clearly the embed has signed on to tire swinging.

If McCain's strategy works, and he's aided and abetted by his "friends" in the MSM, the first thing I will no doubt need to change after the election is my soiled underwear! -Kevo

From the BBC: "Why rednecks will rule the world.."

Even the rest of the world knows how stupid Americans are.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7600000/7600592.stm

I agree that Palin's ties to the Alaska Independence Party ought to be far more of a problem for her than they are. Secessionism is by definition anti-American and no one espousing nor with close ties to others with such views ought to be under consideration for high federal office. God Lord, we fought a friggin' Civil War over just such crap.

It is unfair to ever question a Republican. It is a god given right to question and ridicule a Democrat.

It's mandatory to question a Democrat.

It's required to lie about a Democrat.

But do not ever, ever dare to ask a Republican a relevant question.

OK, sorry to spam this, but man, I am so hot under the collar. I debunked every single statement made in that "Education" ad. Every statement was a lie. Every. Single. One.

At what point are the people in this country going to wake up and smell the fucking coffee? I only hope it is before the complete and utter destruction of this nation.

It must be swell for McCain's campaign to know that they can do or say anything, no matter how abominable or dishonest, and "journalists" like Weisman will have their back. To paraphrase a local carpet company ad, "It's like having a friend in the journalism business."

Does anybody else remember, after Watergate, public service ads that extolled how fortunate we are to live in a country with a free press that reports the facts to us even if they are unpopular?

Where the hell did our press go?

When did it become ok to deny reality?

Yes, Weissman's point about the non-controversial Illinois school measure is a stumper. He really should have elaborated since he appears to be saying that candidates can only claim to support non-controversial items or that any claim of support for a widely supported measure is wrong for a candidate. So apparently, "God bless America" is a controversial assertion for candidates. As is kissing babies.

Good to know, Mr. Weissman. Glad to have you doing political analysis.

McCain/Palin are POUNDING THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE not unlike the relentless moves of a Fascist Party.

If Key Democrats and Journalists don't start taking a stand, I'm going to need to get my passport ready to move to another country.

It is difficult to know how ridiculous a distortion has to be to get a solo refutation in the press. Palin claims Mars is made of chocolate. In the ensuing days Chris Matthews would host a show featuring an astronomer saying she's sadly mistaken. He swivels in his chair and asks Susan Molinari for her take on the issue. Susan would state Palin deserves the benefit of the doubt, seeing as how no one has ever been to Mars. Since it is Palin's faith in her assertion that is truly being questioned and not the assertion itself Obama is actually attacking the faith and ability of all people to believe in unknowable truths. What's next, Obama says their is no God? Palin wants to have a conversation about the wisdom of landing a man on Mars and next thing you know Obama is confessing to atheism! Rinse, repeat for a week of news cycles.

Steve nails it.

Can we get some investigative blogger or god forbid reporter to dredge up the names of EVERYONE that worked on that spot. Creative director, editor, graphic artist, voice over talent, audio mixer, post production house, interns, coffee boy, office fluffer, EVERYONE.

name names.

"So why is it, exactly, that Weisman believes it's unfair for the Obama campaign to mention it?"

Because it's his job to make sure that Obama loses. The entire corporate media is doing their very best to distort facts, lie in support of lies, make things up, and twist and spin any way possible to protect the Republican campaign.

Let's recall that the media is now owned by megacorporations, each of which is convinced that their future is best secured with Republicans in power.

They're stealing the election right in front of us, and half the country is applauding.

oh wait, Factcheck is non-partisan, apparently not good enough for the GOPRove brand. -RememberNovember

Funny you should bring up Factcheck.org in a comments section concerning false equivalence. They are by far the worst offenders. Their latest absolutions of all things Palin have really exposed their true colors.

The Grey Lady had a similar false equivalence in today's pages. Jackie Calmes had an article about ties between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the two candidates. Accompanying the article was a great little chart that showed $169,000 in contributions from directors and officials to McCain and $16,000 to Obama. Since when does $169,000 = $16,000??

The Grey Lady had a similar false equivalence in today's pages. Jackie Calmes had an article about ties between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the two candidates. Accompanying the article was a great little chart that showed $169,000 in contributions from directors and officials to McCain and $16,000 to Obama. Since when does $169,000 = $16,000??

There's a severe credibility gap opening up.

The voters should know what the reporters know, that there's a massive credibility gap between Obama and McCain.

McCain is basing his campaign on proven falsehoods. He's making up new ones to "win" news cycles. But what will the cost be of this growing credibility gap? Will it affect him in the debates? A credibility gap made it impossible for Bush to govern in his second term...how will McCain govern if he has a similar credibility gap?

Weisman is not the worst of them. I would ask that folks more prominent than me (ahem, Steve) email him with a cite to the most recent example of the fundamentals quote, and just asking if he'll make a correction. And if he won't, then I'll be mad.

Steve writes:...have publicly repeated demonstrably false claims about earmarks, taxes, and foreign policy.

What's the false claim on taxes? I think I missed some threads. The only analysis I've seen about the Obama tax cuts is that if the Bush tax cuts are rolled off and is replaced by the $4,000 tax cut that most middle income ($30-100K) taxpayers would pay more taxes not less. I'm checking back to the cite for thisn analysis but is there other independant analysis that proves otherwise?

That's it. I'm leaving. I can't take the American pig trough culture of "We're proud to be stupid" anymore.

Weisman is a GOP toadie. Contact him and ask why he is such a shill for lyers, and ask him if maybe he thought about using that google thing to check his facts before the totally tilts to the Bush Republicans.

On WAMU this morning, there was a pretty interesting discussion about the press and fairness and, frankly, Weisman came across well. Perhaps he does better at some distance from his editors. Worth a listen online, if you can take the Sarah Palin fan who probably has posters of Coulter up in her office.