Imagine a world where every person had complete access to the truth
AND
had sufficient education to separate it from propaganda.
A goal of this site is to provide unbiased access to the truth. This section, in particular, is devoted to helping readers recognize the truth, in the midst of all the propaganda.
A misleading NRA ad claims Obama voted "to deny citizens the right of self-protection."
The NRA says the incident depicted is "a true story." Not quite.
from The Fallacy Files
In their final debate, both McCain and Obama had some difficulty with the notion of "small" business:
McCain: I will not stand for a tax increase on small business income. Fifty percent of small business income taxes are paid by small businesses. That's 16 million jobs in America. And what you [Obama] want to do to Joe the plumber and millions more like him is have their taxes increased and not be able to realize the American dream of owning their own business. …
Obama: The last point I'll make about small businesses. Not only do 98 percent of small businesses make less than $250,000, but I also want to give them additional tax breaks, because they are the drivers of the economy. They produce the most jobs.
Every four years, the two parties and news media collude in this PR spectacle. It's time for citizens to reclaim control from party apparatchiks.
David Bollier, OnTheCommons.org
Have you wondered why the presidential debates don't present any serious ideas or encourage any substantive exchanges about policy and political philosophy? Have you noticed that the events resemble a whirring jukebox of familiar sound bites -- a highly produced, tightly scripted affair with with no surprises and little passion?
There's a reason. Both candidates and their political parties want it this way. The debates are not the production of some independent third party like the League of Women Voters, the host university or news organizations. They are co-produced by the Democratic and Republican Parties themselves, who have ingeniously disguised their actual roles by nominally delegating control to the Commission on Presidential Debates.
The Commission sounds like some venerable group of eminent graybeards and experts. Not so. It is a group of party apparatchiks whose express goal is to broker the terms of the debate in order to advance and protect each candidate's interests. For the 2008 debates, the Commission negotiated a 31-page memo of understanding that lays out in precise detail the rules of stagecraft, questioning, follow-up, audience deportment, and other conditions. The contents of this memo, however, have not been disclosed despite requests by citizen groups.
Related:
Fantasy Brokaw, Liz Cox Barrett, Columbia Journalism Review
from The Fallacy Files
We've seen examples from previous political debates of politicians taking credit for anything good that happens while they are in office (see the Resources, below), even if there is little or no reason to think that they are responsible for it. The flip side of this is that they blame their opponents for anything bad that happens while the opponents are in office, even though there may be no reason to think that its their fault. These are both version of the cum hoc causal fallacy of assuming, without further evidence, that because two things happen at the same time one must have caused the other. Case in point:
Obama: I think everybody knows now we are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. And a lot of you I think are worried about your jobs, your pensions, your retirement accounts, your ability to send your child or your grandchild to college. And I believe this is a final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years, strongly promoted by President Bush and supported by Sen. McCain, that essentially said that we should strip away regulations, consumer protections, let the market run wild, and prosperity would rain down on all of us.
It's important to show people that there is much more wrong with Limbaugh's thinking than just his facts. Limbaugh specializes in ad hominem arguments, which are themselves ridiculously easy to expose. Ted Kennedy says, "America needs health care reform." Limbaugh replies, "Ted Kennedy is fat."
Molly Ivins, Mother Jones
One of the things that concerns a lot of Americans lately is the increase in plain old nastiness in our political discussion. It comes from a number of sources, but Rush Limbaugh is a major carrier.
I should explain that I am not without bias in this matter. I have been attacked by Rush Limbaugh on the air, an experience somewhat akin to being gummed by a newt. It doesn't actually hurt, but it leaves you with slimy stuff on your ankle.
I have a correspondent named Irwin Wingo in Weatherford, Texas. Irwin and some of the leading men of the town are in the habit of meeting about 10 every morning at the Chat'n'Chew Cafe to drink coffee and discuss the state of the world. One of their number is a dittohead, a Limbaugh listener. He came in one day, plopped himself down, and said, "I think Rush is right: Racism in this country is dead. I don't know what the niggers will find to gripe about now."
Related:
Rage on the Radio, the Shock Jocks Rory O'Connor Has Warned Us About, Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers Journal, PBS
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