Lies and deceit from Republican operatives

First, I apologize for my apathy in the recent weeks in not writing more about the important issues of the day, but hey, I was enjoying the holiday season. I will do my best to write that wrong (hehe, get it!) in the coming months, so please stay tuned...

Anyway, in the last week I have received several panicked emails about what *gasp* the democrats are going to do now that they have the full power of the American government, and *gasp* proof that the left wing press was at it again, not reporting the truth about Iraq. At first I was alarmed, because unlike the ditto-heads (aka assholes) on the right, we on the left do not simply accept what our leaders tell us, and continue to question the direction of government regardless of what party allegience those that run it claim. However, my rage soon turned to a smile, then a laugh, then annoyance, and then back into anger, and here I am now writing to you...because, as usual, it was simply a viral, right wing talking point. You can tell these things as soon as you scroll to the bottom of the page, where the email asks you, now that you're righteously upset, to send it along (pretty fucking arrogant for a moochy email that originated from someone I don't know, but then again, Dick Cheney shot some guy in the face and made the guy apologize for it, so, I guess its par for the course).

Of course, if you have the time and the inclination to do so, you could also research if said article or outrage was ever even published/happened--whether the email is even based on factual information. What is your guess, dear reader, about the legitimacy of these emails...hmmm?

My goodness, you're right! So far, all of these emails I've received have been a complete farce--100%. This includes the last two: the first, alleging that we have actually exterminated all Al Quada forcess in Iraq, and that this documented by the London Times, but not the American Press (found to be false by another of the email's recipients); and the second, which suggested that Nancy Pelosi said this, "we have an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in our country who need our help along with millions of unemployed minorities." After doing an extensive search for this specific quote on Pelosi's website, other government sites, and on google and a few other search engines, the only place I found this quote was on anti-Obama websites, right wing blogs, and other GOP talking point websites. Now, I must admit, it is possible that I didn't exhaustively search every last corner of the information superhighway, so if you can find something to suggest that Pelosi did actually say this, then I stand corrected and will correct the statement on this blog--but I don't think this is the case.

The reason? I've been through this before. These two recent examples have been preceeded by 10 or 12 before, all making similarly ridiculous claims, and as I said earlier, all proven totally false. It simply took a little research. Several had supposedly been sent out by professors of various illustrious universities, but when I found the professors' homepages, they all had warnings that there was a viral email using their name for credibility that they had not written and completely disavowed. Others have been articles that had been written by respected newspapers/organizations, but when I went to read the article myself on the papers' website, I found the article in question simply did not exist.

The lesson here is that 1) Republicans don't check their sources and/or are willing to misrepresent or blatantly lie if it advances their purpose, and 2) you should always check the sources of articles and information sent your way; moreover, it is absolutely critical that to call the lies out when they occur. It is one of the most effective ways to change minds about the polity in this country, and no one likes to end up with a pie in their face by being fingered for a liar.