Guardian: A bigger liar than Bush

[muriel_volestrangler]

McCain (and Palin) are setting a record for outright lies. But what is to stop them?

In 2002 and 2003, the Bush administration knew something about the media that the media still don't fully understand about themselves. If you're in a position of power and you want to say something, just say it, no matter what, and the media will repeat it and repeat it.

Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction to speak of? No matter. Just say he did. He wasn't six months away from nuclear capability? So what—just assert that he was. He wasn't tied to 9-11, there was no famous Prague meeting? No problem. Suggest there might have been. Muddy it up. Good enough.

Bush and co. knew that the media are constitutionally unequipped to call a lie a lie. People in the media like to flatter themselves as truth-tellers and the people's watchdogs and all that, but the fact is that except in very rare circumstances, there's no such thing as "objective truth" in the media, particularly the political media. There's just what one side says and what the other side says. This is especially so on cable television.

The Bush people manipulated this. But the McCain campaign has taken it to extremes that make even Dick Cheney look like a wallflower. The number and intensity of outright lies, even for jaded observers, is just staggering.
...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/10/johnmccain.sarahpalin

[aquamarina]

1. Why is it that nearly every country on the planet can see what

apparently half the voting population of the USA can't see? I was in England in Dec 2000 when the election was being contested and I will never forget the amazement of the British people who I talked to that so many people could have voted for Bush. It was nuts.

[BigBearJohn]

2. two words: CORRUPT MEDIA

[Tigress DEM]

3. Can't we as citizens have a class action suit against non-factual campaign ads?

They are in essence "robbing us" of the right to elect our representatives based on facts when lies are allowed to remain standing.

Let's "impeach the press" for crimes against the citizen's right to fair access to information about our candidates whenever they let a lie stand.

I think we should set up a law that allows citizen watch dog groups to pull a factually inaccurate ad or at least demand the facts follow and/or precede the ad every time it is run.

We could call it an "EQUAL TIME FOR THE TRUTH" law.

[Tigress DEM]

4. IN addition to putting heat on the press - we should demand the PACs comply as well.

I think we should sue them for running factually inaccurate ads and find a way to make them surrender all their funds earned up to the time of those ads to a fund for future campaign finance reform.

The only way to beat these people is to make them pay for every lie they tell and sell.