Are like oil and water. In the opening graph of another screed at John McCain’s official campaign blog, Goldfarb states the following:
Today the New York Times launched its latest attack on this campaign in its capacity as an Obama advocacy organization. Let us be clear about what this story alleges: The New York Times charges that McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis was paid by Freddie Mac until last month, contrary to previous reporting, as well as statements by this campaign and by Mr. Davis himself.
From the headline of the NY Times:
McCain Aide’s Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac
One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month from the end of 2005 through last month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.
Ben Smith is having none of Goldfarb’s nonsense.
It is time for a new rule, which I will name after Hank Paulson, who yesterday proved to be incapable of providing his opening statement without lying. At any rate, Paulson’s Law goes like this:
“If the very first thing that comes out of your mouth is a lie or an outright distortion, there is no reason for anyone to pay any attention to or believe anything you have said afterwards.”
*** Update ***
Via email:
John:
Actually, there is an ancient legal maxim that long pre-dates “Paulson’s Law”:
“falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus” = false in one thing, false in everything
Comrade Dreggas
Comrade, I couldn’t agree more which is why, at this point, John McCain should be laughed off of every stage he steps on. Or heck, let’s ressurect a fun one from the days of just before the great depression and pelt him with rotten tomatoes.
Rick Massimo
That rule already is in force, John. But only for Democrats. Republicans can lie and lie and lie, and as we’ve found out the past two months or so, they can even sometimes be called on individual lies, but the next thing out of their mouths? Hey, THIS ONE could be true!
The day I see psychologists on Hardball trying to fiure out why John McCain lies so much, I’ll say the scales have balanced.
Paul L.
A Bad Abortion Stat, Again
Abortion rates drop again
Jake
Apparently this story was picked up by all of the major news outlets. It’ll be interesting to see if it gets any real traction.
I get a kick out of Politico. If they post a story that’s bad news for McCain, the vast majority of comments are anti-McCain. But the same goes for Obama. There are obviously folks of all stripes who frequent the site, but they seem to stay away from one another. Anyone else notice that?
Comrade General Stuck
I was reading about this and was wondering if possibly the NYT’s had it wrong. I just couldn’t believe that a campaign, even a lying one like Mccain’s, could issue this brazen a denial that could so easily be checked out. Then I just heard on MSNBC that CBS and some other outlet had confirmed it as a true story by the Times. Silly me, guess I’m just not as jaded as I should be about the depth of lying wingnuts have sunk to. Everyday is a new level of mendacity, setting the new record from yesterday.
4tehlulz
Effective! I like this new rule.
SGEW
It’s a brilliant plan, in its way. De-legitimize the press, and rely on Fox, Mr. Limbaugh, and the rightwing nutosphere.
Here’s where it’ll wind up:
“What About The Children?”
A Tragedy in One Act
New York Times: “John McCain Eats Baby” (shows photographs of John McCain eating a baby).
Schmidt: “Well that’s the New York Times for you. They’re in the tank for Hussein Osama. How can you trust them?”
CNN: “272 Babies Eaten By McCain” (video footage of McCain gorging himself upon babies covered in delicious BBQ sauce).
Goldfarb: “This false attack on Senator McCain’s pro-life record, and on the culture of life itself, is outrageous. We demand an apology.”
Washington Post: “Coup D’Etat Successful: McCain Regime Installed By Force”
Comrade McCain: “Oh, those left wing liberal rags are just hysterical” (chuckles, eats baby).
demimondian
Comrade Paul L. is out with his new lie of the day.
Sorry, Paul, but abortion rates per pregnancy have not gone down — pregnancy rates have gone down among teenagers. And, to forestall your next comment, pregnancy rates among teenagers have fallen due to two things: (1) the smaller number of teenagers, and (2) comprehensive sex ed.
But congratulations on a jackalope that at least looked real — that was a pretty good lie.
Incertus
Alan Blinder, a colleague of Krugman, proposed that we call Paulson’s plan “Hanky Panky,” which seems appropriate to me.
Paul L.
Nice moving goal posts D. Where did Obama say rates?
From hackcheck.
As for comprehensive sex ed, I remember progressives and feminists complaining that the Bush administrtion has destroyed Sex education by pushing abstinence-only sex education.
Which is it?
DrDave
John:
When are you going to change the front page to read:
“Comrade John Cole’s Balloon Juice” ?
The committee wants to know…
Comrade Dreggas
BWAHAHAHAHAHA
ThymeZone
PauL’s ongoing battle with his personal demons is an inspiration to us all.
Just look how his eyes follow the balloon! Who would want to euthanize somebody who is trying that hard?
Terri … I mean, PaulL … deserves to live.
Comrade The Moar You Know
Way to self-pwn on a thread about lying, Paul. Good going.
It may come as a shock to you that some of us just don’t give two shits about abortion or rapist lacrosse players while the economy burns down and the savings that most of us have worked for all our lives are being stolen. Not that you know anything about work. However, if you enjoy wallowing in your own irrelevance, by all means please continue.
Us grownups will be frantically trying to avoid getting assraped by your Republican buddies in the scam of the century while you sit there and play with your GI Joe dolls, dreaming of a world where you can finally escape the watchful eyes of your mother and get a chance to rape a black hooker.
jake
You said yes so you can’t change your mind! And whatever I say goes!
How about this as a maxim: If you want us to take you seriously, stop acting like a frickin’ wife beater.
Comrade Napoleon
I was just about to post this! The first time I saw it used was against Bill Gates by the judge in the Netscape antitrust case when he was describing how Gates lied through his teeth at his deposition.
SGEW
Hey Paul L.,
Let’s agree, arguendo, that you’re totally right here: Obama lied (i.e., repeated a debunked talking point based on incorrect statistics), and he should be criticized for it. I concur. If he says it again, I will be most disapproving.
However . . . wait for it . . .
WHO THE FUCK IS TALKING ABOUT ABORTION?
As soon as there’s an abortion debate, get back to us on this. Otherwise, why don’t we pay attention to all our monies going kerblooie because of fraud, cronyism, and incompetence?
[And yes: abstinence-only programs don’t work. Sorry.]
Svensker
Google Gary Hart and Donna Rice.
Humans are truly amazing critters.
gbear
“falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus”
Wasn’t that a 70’s porno flick? Falsus was hot back then.
Beej
When do we get to re-christen McBush’s bus The Lying Asshole Express?
Comrade Tax Analyst
This should be the new Republican Party motto…actually, I guess it already is, but they just haven’t told that to the public.
AkaComrade
John McCain understands that we need a well informed citizenry. He lies to keep us on our toes. He’s doing us a favor, and you Liberals are so ungrateful.
Libby Spencer
Is this a good time for a pathetic blogwhore on Sarah’s magical mystery tour ? It’s a lie when they say she now has diplomatic experience after a few SUV stop and drop-ins.
Kali's Little Sister
I wanted to discuss the economy, and that lying sack of shit Rick Davis…but Paul L., you ignorant slut!
You are beyond laughable! If abortion rates are going down, it is more support for the concept that freely available abortions do not INCREASE abortion rates. So if Obama mistates by saying abortion rates have not decreased when they have, he should immediately correct himself because it is to his (and our) advantage.
Think of it like this: pretend McCain had said “I respect Rick Davis because he is the type of lying, slimeball POS that takes money for nothing from Freddie Mac while crafting messages for me that cynically rail against those who engage in such activities. Hee hee!”
NOW – let’s say we found out that Davis did NOT take money for nothing from Freddie Mac. Is McCain a liar (on that point) or simply mistaken and in need of a message update?
Of course the underlying premise of this hypothetical is moot. In truth, Rick Davis IS a lying, slimeball POS that takes money for nothing from Freddie Mac while crafting messages for McCain that cynically rail against those who engage in such activities. Maybe this is new information for McCain (ha!) which would only make him out of touch and uninformed. But we can safely conclude that McCain is a liar should he deny Davis’ involvement with Freddie Mac in the future.
Mike
And Rick Davis is skipping a planned lunch with reporters today.
Good times, good times.
Brett
I’ll be laughing my ass off if Rick Davis gets let go (not that it would matter much; Steve Schmidt is in charge). We’ll see – these press attacks seem to be having the opposite effect for the McCain campaign.
Brett
In any case, I’m waiting for factcheck.org to weigh in on this.
ThymeZone
Um, stating incorrect numbers is not lying, it is called “being mistaken.” Lying is when the facts are deliberately misstated. If demi is correct, above, then the number of abortions can go down without the “rate” among any particular group changing that much, because we don’t know what all the variables are.
WTF, people? Is this high school?
Never mind. High school has a higher standard. Meanwhile, a guy who pimps for people who think the earth is 6000 years old is trolling about the interpretation of arcane statistics? Only in America.
Shinobi
Beej,
The press has already rechristened it the “No Talk Express.” I’m sure not meeting with Rick Davis today will just add more fuel to that fire.
Incertus
It won’t make much difference–apparently conservatives don’t like facts that challenge their reality.
tBone
Paul L.’s jackalopes are such pathetic creatures, even Sarah Palin would think twice before shooting them.
robert green
what matters is that one identify the lie out loud AT THE MOMENT IT HAPPENS. this point cannot be made strongly enough. when paulson says “i would love me some oversight” someone (sherrod brown) needs to jump up at that very second and say “Liar. if you want to leave the room now, do so, but if you are going to lie i’m turning off your mike.”
otherwise, the catapult just keeps getting loaded with more propaganda.
b. hussein canuckistani
That wouldn’t stop Dick Cheney. Are we sure Sarah Palin is VP material?
Margarita
FWIW, there is also a standard jury instruction (Cal. BAJI 2.22):
A witness who is willfully false in one part of his or her testimony is to be distrusted in others. You may reject the whole testimony of a witness who has testified falsely as to a material point, unless from all the evidence you believe the probability of truth favors his or her testimony in other particulars.
tBone
No. “Hasn’t shot an elderly friend in the face” is just one of the many glaring deficiencies in her resume.
Comrade The Moar You Know
I want my Vice-President ready, willing and able to shoot anyone and anything at a moment’s notice. Sarah Palin is clearly not up to the job.
Comrade Zifnab
Remember when the topic of this post was about Michael Goldfarb lying about McCain’s characterization of Obama’s attack on McCain’s relationship with Rick Davis?
Nice to know we’ve got it parsed down to “ABORTION!” and its various derivatives.
Kali's Little Sister
Kommissar of the Proletariat Montysano
Last night at Casa del Monty, we took the night off from politics (Schuster sitting in for KO…bleh) and watched, for the umpteenth time, “O Brother Where Art Thou”, IMHO one of the funniest, most brilliant movies evah. And of course, it features politicians being pelted with rotten fruit.
“Well, it’s a helluva campaign they’re runnin’, what with the midget and the broom and all”. LOLZ
markg8
Davis got $35,000 a month for being a lobbyist to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae from 2000 to 2005. He received nearly $2 million as president of the lobbying coalition, the Homeownership Alliance which he ran from his office from 2000 to 2005.
In 2005 the FMs shut down HA and Davis then asked for and his company secretly began receiving $15,000 a month from Freddie Mac for “consulting” work until last month when the Bush administration nationalized both FMs. Davis did virtually no work for Freddie over the last 3 years, he was paid for his access to McCain.
Of course Davis hasn’t personally cashed in yet. All 177 lobbyists on McCain’s staff are working for the day when they can.
JoshA
Shouldn’t it be “Palin’s Law”? “Thanks but no thanks” on the Bridge to Nowhere was the first thing out of her mouth, and that was a lie.
cleek
it should be reflexive at this point: any time McCain attacks Obama, first look at McCain to see how the attack really applies to McCain – because it will.
mattH
Incertus links to the post, but the better item is the first link, to D-squared and Good ideas do not need lots of lies told about them in order to gain public acceptance. Well worth reading the other associated maxims. Totally true now, and probably always.
mattH
Oops, it’s from the post before the one Incertus linked to.
Comrade Napoleon
NPR is reporting that McCain is seeking to have Friday’s debate posponed.
Punchy
OT:
Fox is reporting that McCain is suspending his presidential campaign to “work on the financial crisis”. Wants a delay in the debates, too.
boonagain
What about Howard Kurtz of WaPo publishing Sully’s private emails that he had sent to the McCain Campaign?
LiberalTarian
So, I met my first neocon recently. He seems like such a nice guy. Then you get to talking, and before you know it, he’s telling you what fascists the Democrats are and how it is Barney Franks fault that the economy is collapsing. And, did you know Colin Powell was a Democrat??
Sigh. Too bad. Don’t think of it as lying. Think of it as mental defect.
comrade chopper
john mccain is actually going to show up on the hill? bullshit. that guy hasn’t voted on anything since april.
Liz
comrade chopper: Dammit, my post on this froze! :)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/24/campaign.wrap/index.html
This is going to be interesting.
PeterJ
My guess, the McCain campaign wants one and only one debate, with both the presidential candidates and their vp:s.
They are gambling everything on just one debate. My guess is that they will want it just a couple of days before the election.
Unless the election gets supsended too. Why is U.S. Army brigade being assigned to Homeland?
comrade chopper
somebody needs to tell mccain that the dems on the hill are on this issue and have been for days.
seriously, mccain is suspending his campaign to do what? bust down the door at the banking committee hearing to take over?
comrade chopper
jesus, apparently yesterday mccain admitted that he hadn’t even read paulson’s plan. now all of a sudden he has to drop everything to get to work on the issue?
ethans mom
So if they did cancel the debate (hah!) would that mean that Obama would be given carte blanche to run ad after ad filled with lies and then blame it on McCain for failing to appear at the agreed upon debate. After all, McCain blamed Obama’s failure to participate in town hall style appearances with him as the reason for all the lying crap the McCain campaign put out.
On a more serious note, I wonder about McCain’s health. I can’t imagine any other reason his campaign would want to suspend the debate. Well, other than he’s going to suck at it but, they’ve known that all along-there’d be no reason for a last minute withdrawal like this if that were the reason.
Librarian
But…but…but…Franklin Raines!! And Franklin Raines!!! What about Frankilin Raines!!!! Did I mention Franklin Raines?