I have really grown to HATE this time of year. No, I have nothing against autumn per se, it's more that this is the time of year for those ubiquitous political ads. They pop up on TV and the radio constantly and almost all of them involve some form of mudslinging. You rarely are told why you should vote for a particular candidate; it's far more about why you shouldn't vote for his or her opponent.
What's worse is that most such ads are very loose with the facts. They make all sorts of insane accusations based on purposeful distortion, half-truths and, in many cases, outright lies!! While I'm not naive and I have understood from the get-go that politics is not the bastion of ethical conduct, the situation seems to grow worse and worse each year.
It is bad enough when the candidates themselves are the guilty parties, but with all these secretive "Super PACs" now flooding the airwaves with attack ads, our nation is sinking to a new all-time low in political misrepresentations!
I'm not the only one who recognizes that these Super PACs are, by and large, not conducive to a robust and transparent democracy. For several years, PolitiFact.com has been trying to verify the veracity of political ads. In a recent report, they state that Super PACs and other like-minded groups are having a great deal of trouble with the truth question.
What's worse is that most such ads are very loose with the facts. They make all sorts of insane accusations based on purposeful distortion, half-truths and, in many cases, outright lies!! While I'm not naive and I have understood from the get-go that politics is not the bastion of ethical conduct, the situation seems to grow worse and worse each year.
It is bad enough when the candidates themselves are the guilty parties, but with all these secretive "Super PACs" now flooding the airwaves with attack ads, our nation is sinking to a new all-time low in political misrepresentations!
I'm not the only one who recognizes that these Super PACs are, by and large, not conducive to a robust and transparent democracy. For several years, PolitiFact.com has been trying to verify the veracity of political ads. In a recent report, they state that Super PACs and other like-minded groups are having a great deal of trouble with the truth question.
Ads from "super PACs” and other political groups targeting the 2010 midterm election are overwhelmingly spreading exaggerations and falsehoods, according to a fact-checking analysis by PolitiFact.It doesn't matter which side of the aisle a group supports. Conservatives and liberals lie and distort as much as the next fellow. This provides yet another reason why many Americans (me included) see no purpose in voting. Why vote for one liar over another?
Of 31 claims in TV ads that PolitiFact has checked from groups such as American Crossroads and the Patriot Majority PAC, the vast majority have earned a Half True or lower rating on our Truth-O-Meter.
Forty-two percent earned a Half True, 23 percent Barely True and 13 percent were found to be False or Pants on Fire, the rating reserved for the most ridiculous falsehoods.
Only five of the 31 claims from the groups were rated Mostly True. Just two earned True ratings...
Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.
ReplyDelete-- Will Rogers
"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened."
-- Winston Churchill
--sgl