Jackson Free Press

The current national furor over the lies coming from the McCain-Palin camp reached a ridiculous level today when Factcheck.org had to call the campaign out for distorting the non-partisan's correction of Internet rumors about Palin—because McCain ran an ad that dishonestly said Factcheck said the Obama campaign told the lies, not anonymous Internet users. Uh, big difference. Factcheck.org today:

A McCain-Palin ad has FactCheck.org calling Obama's attacks on Palin "absolutely false" and "misleading." That's what we said, but it wasn't about Obama.

Our article criticized anonymous e-mail falsehoods and bogus claims about Palin posted around the Internet. We have no evidence that any of the claims we found to be false came from the Obama campaign.

The McCain-Palin ad also twists a quote from a Wall Street Journal columnist. He said the Obama camp had sent a team to Alaska to "dig into her record and background." The ad quotes the WSJ as saying the team was sent to "dig dirt."

Update, Sept. 10: Furthermore, the Obama campaign insists that no researchers have been sent to Alaska and that the Journal owes them a correction.

Analysis
We don't object to people reprinting our articles. In fact, our copyright policy encourages it. But we've also asked that "the editorial integrity of the article be preserved" and told those who use our items that "you should not edit the original in such a way as to alter the message."

(Read more on Factcheck.org.)

Does the McCain campaign think the American people are too stupid to go to the Web site and see what it actually said!?! Apparently. All these lies are unconscionable. Desperation is one thing, but this is absurd.

Previous Commentsshow

Not to mention, CBS told McCain to cease and desist using Katie Couric out of context in a dishonest way (and YouTube pulled the video of the ad. Take that!) And the McCain lunacy over "lipstick on a pig" is simply lunacy considering he used the same phrase to criticize Hillary Clinton. I guess this is what you do when you don't have issues to run on. This level of lies has to backfire on McCain. I mean, good Lord, the American people now have their own Internets, you know. They can factcheck this crap themselves. The maverick needs to buck up and start shooting straight.

DonnaLadd

Sep 10 2008

The "lipstick on a pig" deal is just a way to prevent criticism of Palin. Anybody who thinks they can't see through that needs glasses. Methinks Factcheck.org will be doing a whole lot of fact-checking over the next 55 days.

golden eagle

Sep 10 2008

The faux outrage from the Right over the lipstick comment would be laughable if Obama was still ahead of McCain in the latest polls.

Jeff Lucas

Sep 11 2008

True, but remember that even if Obama was ahead in national polls, it means very little (ask Al Gore). And McCain-Palin are going to have to get up the Bald Lie Express for two months without it crumbling. So I wouldn't lose sleep about it. I personally think it's all part of the big picture.

DonnaLadd

Sep 11 2008

Speaking of McCain lies, this one may be his worst yet. From Factcheck.org: A McCain campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" was a bill to teach sex ed to kindergarten kids. Don't believe it. Summary A McCain-Palin campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" in the area of education was "legislation to teach 'comprehensive sex education' to kindergarteners." But the claim is simply false, and it dates back to Alan Keyes' failed race against Obama for an open Senate seat in 2004. Obama, contrary to the ad's insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners. And the bill, which would have allowed only "age appropriate" material and a no-questions-asked opt-out policy for parents, was not his accomplishment to claim in any case, since he was not even a cosponsor – and the bill never left the state Senate. In addition, the ad quotes unflattering assessments of the Illinois senator's record on education but leaves out sometimes equally harsh criticism directed at McCain in the same forums. We just watched "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" last night, and the elder McCain's lies are starting to look a lot like the old senator's. Obama just needs to filibuster for the next two months with the truth about the actual state of the economy, our two wars, and the rest of the ugliness the Republican Party as inflicted on the country in recent years. Oh, and keep pointing out that their opponents are running lies and distortions because they have no real plans to change anything. This was never going to be easy, Jeff. It's not supposed to be. It's a year when everything, including the media's obsession with the horse race, needs to be shown for what it is. Keep talking, each and every one of you. That's what we need to balance bad media coverage.

DonnaLadd

Sep 11 2008

The Republicans are masters of spin; they've perfected the art of twisting everything to their own advantage. The problem is that we, the people, are either buying in to it, or aren't calling them on it, over and over and over again. Yesterday on Salon there was a terrific column about this whole mess. Here's one thing--among many--that stood out for me: "It's important to underscore here that a one-day complaint from Obama -- as effectively formulated as today's message was -- is nowhere near sufficient to combat these tactics, which are only going to continue and intensify between now and the election. It's a message he needs to sharpen and repeat daily, and turn into an offensive weapon ("they want you to pay attention to shallow sideshows to make you forget what they've done to the country over the last 8 years"). What the McCain campaign is doing is a classic political "don't look at the man behind the curtain," diversion. Obama supporters need to get on the ball fast to ensure that people know what's really going on.

Ronni_Mott

Sep 11 2008

I know that Senator Obama warned supporters against going after family members or more specifically, children. I have been reading some of the articles and pictures of the Palin family. The more I read, look at pictures and assert time lines, the more the story about the birth of "her" four month old child, who is reaported as a Downs Syndrome baby, just doesn't make sense. Could this be the October suprise? Could Gov.Sarah Palin be this child's grand- mother?

justjess

Sep 11 2008

The Associated Press reports today on McCain's new trail of lies: The "Straight Talk Express" has detoured into doublespeak. Republican presidential nominee John McCain, a self-proclaimed tell-it-like-it-is maverick, keeps saying his running mate, Sarah Palin, killed the federally funded Bridge to Nowhere when, in fact, she pulled her support only after the project became a political embarrassment. He said Friday that Palin never asked for money for lawmakers' pet projects as Alaska governor, even though she has sought nearly $200 million in earmarks this year. He says Obama would raise nearly everyone's taxes, when independent groups say 80 percent of families would get tax cuts instead. Even in a political culture accustomed to truth-stretching, McCain's skirting of facts has stood out this week. It has infuriated and flustered Obama's campaign, and campaign pros are watching to see how much voters disregard news reports noting factual holes in the claims. McCain's persistence in pushing dubious claims is all the more notable because many political insiders consider him one of the greatest living victims of underhanded campaigning. Locked in a tight race with George W. Bush for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, McCain was rocked in South Carolina by a whisper campaign claiming he had fathered an illegitimate black child and was mentally unstable. Shaken by the experience, McCain denounced less-than-truthful campaigning. It is so very sad to see McCain turn into this kind of person and candidate, and divide the country based on lies, as I wrote about in my editor's note this week.

DonnaLadd

Sep 12 2008

Not to mention, McCain is proposing a tax on health-care costs, according to Time: Today's issue: health insurance. John McCain wants to tax your employer-provided health care benefits. He wants to replace those benefits with an insufficient tax credit--$2500 for individuals and $5000 for families (the average cost per family for health insurance is $12000). There is a positive, progressive tax aspect to this: wealthier people should have to pay for health insurance themselves, without tax breaks from the federal government. But make no mistake: this plan will do little or nothing for those who do not have insurance now--unless they are young and healthy--and it may well hurt a fair number of workers, especially unionized workers, who get gold-plated benefits from their employers.

DonnaLadd

Sep 12 2008

Lies, Damn LIes and More lies: ABC News on Troopergate today.

DonnaLadd

Sep 15 2008

It seems as if the McCain/Palin ticket is about to march this Country straight to the bottom of the barrell. With our banking industry crumbling, two wars, gasoline crisis (I paid$4.54 this am for premium, insurance rip-offs for the elderly, better known as "THE DONUT HOLE", home foreclosures,and the list goes on and one, when is the madness going to stop? McCain and Palin are willing to do/say anything for seats in the White House. Aren't we still suffering as a nation because of electing a person with similar traits and behaviors? Please, NO MORE REPEATS! -

justjess

Sep 16 2008

"Treason Soils John McCain" By Richard Cohen Maybe eagle will like this from the Washington Post Group: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/09/mccain_tries_to_win_at_all_cos.html

FreeClif

Sep 16 2008