Sunday 12 October 2008

Liar liar pants on fire...


Liar Liar, Pants on Fire: John McCain Lies 270% More than Obama According to Political Fact Checkers.

Senator John McCain may be trying to sell himself as a "maverick" and a "straight talker" who will tell the truth no matter the consequences, but independent, non-partisan watchdog groups aren't buying it.

In the last two weeks, the McCain campaign, through advertisements, television appearances, and surrogates have changed their tone and language by calling into question Senator Barack Obama's character. The McCain campaign is attempting to cast a shadow on Obama's honesty. They have called Obama a "liar," stating that he simply "isn't honest," and that many of Senator Obama's statements have been debunked by fact checking organizations.

While there is some truth that fact checking organizations have found that Senator Obama has made claims that are false, the McCain campaign is entering dangerous territory, as they are allowing a conversation to begin on how often Senator McCain lies. As it stands, an analysis of non-partisan fact checking organization reports show that statements by Barack Obama are more likely to be true versus statements by John McCain.

PolitiFact, a non-partisan organization ran by the St. Petersburg Times and the Congressional Quarterly tracks major claims and comments made by candidates at campaign events, in advertisements, during debates, and in other forms of media. Since August 1, 2008, PolitiFact has researched and made findings on 42 statements by Barack Obama and 45 statements by John McCain.

PolitiFact rates statements as True, Mostly True, Half True, Barely True, False, or PANTS ON FIRE. Out of the 45 major claims made by John McCain since August 1, 2008, they have found that only 19 have been True, Mostly True, or even Half True; leaving 26 statements to be Barely True, False, or Pants on Fire. On the contrary, they found that out of the 42 major claims made by Barack Obama, 33 have been True, Mostly True, or Half True, and only 9 have been Barely True, False, or Pants on Fire.

The figures above indicate that while Senator Obama typically makes false statements one out of every five times (21.4%), Senator McCain makes false statements almost three out of every five times (57.8%). This means that John McCain is more likely to make a claim that would be considered a "LIE" about 270% more often than Senator Obama.

What is even more troubling, is that when the statements are tracked from the beginning of the presidential campaign, Senator McCain was also 600% more likely to make a "PANTS ON FIRE" claim, which is the worse kind of lie, one that ignores any truth or fact altogether.

The McCain campaign ends most of their ads by asking a question, "Is Barack Obama Ready to Lead?" and they answer by simply stating..."NO!" The better question should be "Is John McCain Ready to Start Being Honest?" While only John McCain can answer that question, one thing seems to be convincing based on the evidence, John McCain would rather lose his integrity than lose an election.

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-108848

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