Brent Budowsky: McCain Doesn't Need a Fact-Checker; the Media Edit His Mistakes for Him

[babylonsister]

http://www.alternet.org/election08/92570/mccain_doesn%27t_need_a_fact-checker%3B_the_media_edit_his_mistakes_for_him/

McCain Doesn't Need a Fact-Checker; the Media Edit His Mistakes for Him

By Brent Budowsky, Consortium News. Posted July 25, 2008.

The media cover up McCain's latest egregious misstatements on Iraq.



John McCain, presumably advised by Karl Rove and definitely imitating the politics of George Bush, is now saying that Barack Obama would rather lose a war than lose an election.

This is a defamation; this is a slander; this is a lie. McCain should apologize to Obama.

This is the latest in a long list of cheap-shot, low-blow politics. McCain has learned nothing about why the American people are rejecting the Republicans and why the Republican brand has been compared to the appeal of defective dog food.

snip//

For now, two points:

First, McCain repeatedly lowers the quality of discourse in American politics. The man who ran in 2000 has disappeared; the face of Bush 44 has taken his place with these Rove-like low blows. It is McCain who has always been the fair-haired boy of the press.

Second, John McCain has made a long series of substantial factual errors that will become a major issue. Whether the problem is age or sloppiness, partisanship or tiredness, on issue after issue McCain says things that are factually incorrect.

Couric protected McCain by editing out his latest and very substantial factual error, gaffe, falsehood or mistake (call it what you will).

Scarborough works to protect McCain by demeaning Olbermann, the messenger, who should be praised for doing real reporting (heaven forbid).

McCain's Rove-like attacks -- and his serious and repeated factual errors on major issues -- should be major topics in the election and staying silent about them does our political discourse no good.