A day of dishonesty
July 30th, 2008 at 07:14pm Pat Cunningham
 
It seems that everywhere I turn today, somebody is telling lies or making excuses for them or applauding them or whatever.
A review in links:
THIS ONE is about oil spills. [UPDATE: My source on this one is in error. See Comments Nos. 2 and 3]
THIS ONEÂ (actually, more than one) is about taxes.
THIS ONE involves a distortion of something Barack Obama said.
THIS ONEÂ is about owning up to a lie.
THIS ONE is about a right-winger applauding something he admits is dishonest.
THIS ONE is about federal budget deficits.
THIS ONE is about the price of coal.
THIS ONE is about a whole pack of falsehoods in an e-mail from a soldier in Afghanistan, which has been roundly refuted by the U.S. Army.
I could go on, but this exercise is too damn depressing.
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized
6 Comments Add your own
1. redrover | July 31st, 2008 at 8:51 am
It must be “Obama = Arrogance” week down at the corporate media corral.
Here’s another piece on that hot topic similar to those you’ve posted. Dig the intro.
President Obama Continues Hectic Victory Tour
By Dana Milbank
The Washington Post, Wednesday, July 30, 2008; A03
Barack Obama has long been his party’s presumptive nominee. Now he’s becoming its presumptuous nominee.
FULL TEXT AT:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/29/AR2008072902068_pf.html
What bugs me about these sorts of critiques is that they waste a reader’s time and attention on issues of no substance while real issues are carefully left unaddressed.
What results is a sort of cultivated selective ignorance which makes it difficult for readers who want to make an informed, and not a disinformed, decision at the polling place.
2. Menlo Bob | July 31st, 2008 at 10:18 am
Let’s talk about dishonesty. Your #1 item deals with statements made about oil spills from oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after hurricane Katrina. The link provided by Think Progress as the definative voice for the assessment of damage says this on page 65:
“Hurricanes Katrina and Rita confirmed that our offshore oil and gas industry produces environmentally safe energy for America. Even in the face of two back-to-back major hurricanes, all subsurface safety valves held on the OCS and there was no significant spill from production. The small amounts of oil observed in the water surrounding platforms may have come from damaged pipelines or petroleum supplies for running platform
machinery, but, as stated, it did not come from OCS production wells.”
Again you’ve accepted at face value the dubious reporting of a left-wing site without checking it out. They lied, your credibility died.
3. Pat Cunningham | July 31st, 2008 at 11:27 am
You’re right, Bob. I stand corrected.
4. Kaus | July 31st, 2008 at 11:48 am
Menlo Bob hits it out of the park. Time for Pat to send you more free tickets to non-existant movie houses.
5. Pat Cunningham | July 31st, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Kaus: Let’s also give Bob credit for plowing through scores of pages of dry scientific stuff to disprove the premise advanced by my source. That’s the kind of intellectual diligence you could never muster. Also, note that I’ve amended the original post to show that the oil-spill item is in error.
6. Menlo Bob | July 31st, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Welcome aboard the USS Drill Here Drill Now. It’s time haul the obstructionist anchor–full speed ahead.
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