Another loser from PolitiFact: Joe Biden accurately citing accurate crime stats = 'Mostly True'

[ProSense]

Another loser from PolitiFact: Joe Biden accurately citing accurate crime stats = 'Mostly True'

by David Nir

If you didn't already think that PolitiFact was a joke, their latest "fact check" ought to seal it. Their target is a speech Joe Biden made last week:

We were intrigued by comments Biden made in Flint, Mich., on Oct. 12, 2011:
"In 2008, when Flint had 265 sworn officers on their police force, there were 35 murders and 91 rapes in this city.

"In 2010, when Flint had only 144 police officers, the murder rate climbed to 65, and rapes, just to pick two categories, climbed to 229.

"In 2011, you now only have 125 shields. God only knows what the numbers will be this year for Flint if we don't rectify it. And God only knows what that number would have been had we not been able to get a little bit of help to you."

Seven numbers there, all easy to verify, right? PolitiFact only needed to consult the source for those figures:

"The City of Flint stands behind the crime statistics provided to the Office of The Vice President. These numbers are an actual portrayal of the level of violent crime in our city and are the same numbers we have provided to our own community. This information is the most accurate data and demonstrates the rise in crime associated with the economic crisis and the reduced staffing levels."

Case closed! Joe Biden's statements get a "True" rating! ...

more

This is a case in which the fact checker got called out. Politifact changed it to "mostly true."

[ClarkUSA]

1. Right wing owned and editorialized WaPo on Biden's "absurd claims"...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=633791&mesg_id=633791

WaPo is part of the right wing echo chamber.

[applegrove]

2. The right had to go after Biden because, by his correct information, it went against

the supposed GOP meme that Republicans are tough on crime.

[Scuba]

3. Anybody know who "owns" Politifact?

[Jim Lane]

4. It's a project of the St. Petersburg Times

I see a tendency for fact-checking operations like this one to be harder on Democrats. It's important for their credibility that they be perceived as nonpartisan. Their problem is that, in today's climate, right-wingers are far more likely to employ half-truths, distortions, and downright falsehoods. A truly nonpartisan resource would be devoting almost all its space to calling out Republicans. The search for an appearance of "balance" requires that criticisms of Democrats be hyped.

In this instance, the "Mostly True" rating is because Biden used the city police department's crime data, but the FBI (chiefly because of an unduly restrictive definition of rape) has different numbers. Of course, a politician who used the FBI numbers could be rated "Mostly True" because the city numbers were different. The logical consequence of this rating is that no one can ever do better than "Mostly True" except by stopping his or her exposition of the point for which the statistics are being used, and embarking on a digression about the methods of computing crime data.

[ProSense]

5. That's

"I see a tendency for fact-checking operations like this one to be harder on Democrats. It's important for their credibility that they be perceived as nonpartisan. Their problem is that, in today's climate, right-wingers are far more likely to employ half-truths, distortions, and downright falsehoods. A truly nonpartisan resource would be devoting almost all its space to calling out Republicans. The search for an appearance of "balance" requires that criticisms of Democrats be hyped."

...exactly right! This is why factcheck.org spent so much time parsing words to debunk Kerry's claim that Bush wanted to cut Social Security. A claim that proved true only months after the 2004 election.

Republicans lie from one hour to the next.

[Scuba]

6. Good analysis. Thanks.