But on with today's post...
Politifacts has a rather checkered reputation with both sides of the political spectrum as a fact checker as Rachel Maddow found out. The Wikipedia entry on Politifacts mentioned, for example, that "(i)n February 2011, Rachel Maddow criticized PolitiFact for incorrectly stating that she denied that there was a budget shortfall in Wisconsin, providing a clip of herself explicitly stating that there was a budget shortfall on her own show.[27]
As is always the case though, the Conservative leadership may be lying about the lying too, as Taranto of the Wall Street Journal said PolitiFact was 'less (a) seeker of truth than servant of power', after it ranked as 'Lie of the Year' Sarah Palin's claim that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act would lead to 'death panels'.[25][26] A Wall Street Journal editorial criticized the ruling, saying that the legislation would 'convert insurers into government contractors in the business of fulfilling political demands... All citizens will be required to pay into this system, regardless of their individual needs or preferences. Sounds like a government takeover to us.'[13]
Sounds just like another lie compounding another lie to us.
At any rate, today's post, "Study: Republicans Lie," has undergone a headline change from the original essay, "Do Republicans Lie More Than Democrats? Politifact Ratings Say 'Yes -- But Is The Fact-Checker Biased?," since - as our regular readers know - we have shown repeatedly that not all Conservatives vote Republican, but all Republicans are Conservative.
"Men by their constitutions are naturally divided into two parties: 1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes. 2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise depositary of the public interests. In every country these two parties exist, and in every one where they are free to think, speak, and write, they will declare themselves. Call them, therefore, Liberals and Serviles, Jacobins and Ultras, Whigs and Tories, Republicans and Federalists, Aristocrats and Democrats, or by whatever name you please, they are the same parties still and pursue the same object. The last one of Aristocrats and Democrats is the true one expressing the essence of all." --Thomas Jefferson to Henry Lee, 1824.
"Both of our political parties, at least the honest portion of them, agree conscientiously in the same object: the public good; but they differ essentially in what they deem the means of promoting that good. One side believes it best done by one composition of the governing powers, the other by a different one. One fears most the ignorance of the people; the other the selfishness of rulers independent of them. Which is right, time and experience will prove. We think that one side of this experiment has been long enough tried and proved not to promote the good of the many, and that the other has not been fairly and sufficiently tried. Our opponents think the reverse. With whichever opinion the body of the nation concurs, that must prevail." --Thomas Jefferson to Abigail Adams, 1804.
"Men have differed in opinion and been divided into parties by these opinions from the first origin of societies, and in all governments where they have been permitted freely to think and to speak. The same political parties which now agitate the U.S. have existed through all time. Whether the power of the people or that of the [aristocracy] should prevail were questions which kept the states of Greece and Rome in eternal convulsions, as they now schismatize every people whose minds and mouths are not shut up by the gag of a despot. And in fact the terms of Whig and Tory belong to natural as well as to civil history. They denote the temper and constitution of mind of different individuals." --Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1813.
"The division into Whig and Tory is founded in the nature of man; the weakly and nerveless, the rich and the corrupt, seeing more safety and accessibility in a strong executive; the healthy, firm, and virtuous, feeling confidence in their physical and moral resources, and willing to part with only so much power as is necessary for their good government; and, therefore, to retain the rest in the hands of the many, the division will substantially be into Whig and Tory." --Thomas Jefferson to Joel Barlow, 1802.
"The parties of Whig and Tory are those of nature. They exist in all countries, whether called by these names or by those of Aristocrats and Democrats, Cote Droite and Cote Gauche, Ultras and Radicals, Serviles and Liberals. The sickly, weakly, timid man fears the people, and is a Tory by nature. The healthy, strong and bold cherishes them, and is formed a Whig by nature." --Thomas Jefferson to Lafayette, 1823.
While the study was able to show that the Party of No is also the Party of The Big Lie, the ratio of lying between the Parties remains questionable without access to the study.
We believe the ratios are closer to 1% and 100%, but on with the essay, just substituting the word "Conservative" for "Republican.":
"Does PolitiFact.com, a popular fact-checking outlet produced by The Tampa Bay Times, have a bias against Republicans?
"Considering the results of a new study by The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) at George Mason University, some will surely answer affirmatively. Analysis of the first four months of President Barack Obama’s second term found that PolitiFact rated Republicans’ claims false three times as often as Democratic statements.
"Naturally, the first reaction in this instance is to assume an anti-GOP bias, especially considering the recent scandals surrounding Benghazi, the IRS and the Associated Press. Considering the extra scrutiny on the Obama administration and a push for viable and truthful information about these scenarios, one would expect Democratic claims to be fact-checked more regularly and diligently (at least in the current climate).
"Considering the results of a new study by The Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) at George Mason University, some will surely answer affirmatively. Analysis of the first four months of President Barack Obama’s second term found that PolitiFact rated Republicans’ claims false three times as often as Democratic statements.
"Naturally, the first reaction in this instance is to assume an anti-GOP bias, especially considering the recent scandals surrounding Benghazi, the IRS and the Associated Press. Considering the extra scrutiny on the Obama administration and a push for viable and truthful information about these scenarios, one would expect Democratic claims to be fact-checked more regularly and diligently (at least in the current climate).
"Of the 100 claims that were examined by PolitiFact (46 by Democrats and 54 by Republicans) from January 20 through May 22, 32 percent of Republicans’ statements were rated 'false' or 'pants on fire,' indicating that these politicians weren’t being truthful. On the flip side, just 11 percent of Democratic claims were given the same designation.
"And what about claims of truth?
"While Democrats saw 22 percent of their statements rated as 'entirely true,' only 11 percent of Republicans’ statements were labeled the same. A similar dynamic existed for claims that were seen as “mostly or entirely true” (54 percent for Democrats versus 18 percent for Republicans).
“'While Republicans see a credibility gap in the Obama administration,PolitiFact rates Republicans as the less credible party,' said CMPA president Dr. Robert Lichter.
"Digging into the findings, one can come to one of two conclusions: Either there’s a bias against the GOP — or Republicans lie much more fervently than Democrats (at least during the first four months of Obama’s second term).
"As CMPA notes, this isn’t the first time that analysis of PolitiFact’s work has yielded disparities. In the past, the Mitt Romney campaign was given more negative ratings that the Obama campaign. Again, it’s possible the former lied more regularly, although many would debate this.
(And in Salon.com's take on the press release, they noted:
"Undoubtably, Republicans would blame this on 'bias,' accusing the fact checkers of operating as little more than Democratic Party shills. 'We’re not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers,' Romney pollster Neil Newhouse famously declared last summer after the campaign got whacked for running nakedly false ads.")
"Read all of the results of the latest CMPA study about PolitiFact."
Left out of the Blaze.com story was the following, from the original press release:
"This study’s findings are similar to those of a previous CMPA study, which found that PolitiFact gave more negative ratings to the Romney campaign than the Obama campaign during the 2012 presidential election campaign.
"Examples of PolitiFact ratings:
"Pants on Fire: Michele Bachmann decries “huge national database” run by IRS with "personal, intimate" details. (May 15, 2013)
"True: Obama says bipartisan background check plan “outlawed any (gun) registry.” (April 17, 2013)"
Conservatives and their Sheeplets rail against Politifacts as much as they do against Wikipedia, or any other site that deals in facts rather than pipe dreams and nightmarish Conservative talking points, and while we don't believe in the absolute numbers of the survey, we have proven time and time again that Conservatives lie because they have to.
For the background behind this premise, please read "Conservatism: The Big Lie," here --> http://www.criminalizeconservatism.com/2012/08/conservatism-big-lie.html.
One of the most important ideas we have imparted since the inception of this site is that we can decipher any news story by or about the Other Side by knowing that everything they say and do is a lie. Any and all statements from any right-winger is based on a lie, every action a Conservative capo takes is based on a lie, and everything a Conservative Sheeplet communicates on the web is a meme, promulgated originally by a lie from Conservatism's vast collection of consiglieres and capos.
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"Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else."
Margaret Mead (American cultural anthropologist, writer, and speaker who wrote
the controversial *Coming of Age in Samoa.* 1901 – 1978)
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