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You are here: Home / Pearl-Clutching Antidote

Pearl-Clutching Antidote

by @heymistermix.com|  August 20, 20128:18 am| 30 Comments

This post is in: DC Press Corpse

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This piece by Blake Zeff at Buzzfeed debunks the “nastiest campaign ever” whining that’s been going on, using a bunch of good examples. I also liked his examination of the press’ notion that lying about issues is somehow less toxic that other lies, using the Romney welfare lie as an example:

[…] Recall during the GOP primary when Michele Bachmann errantly stated that the HPV vaccine caused mental retardation. In this instance, the press was vigilant in correcting her misstatement, and each time she repeated it, her credibility took a hit. This has not happened with Romney on welfare, nor has his deception here generated a fraction of the controversy that has enveloped Harry Reid for speculating about Romney’s tax burden.

This is presumably because any discussion of a policy issue — even a dishonest one — is substantive, since it’s talking about policy… or something.

Also, too: Even though Harry Reid is the worst person in the world for repeating an easily disproved rumor about Romney’s taxes, that’s also ultimately about a core campaign issue. It’s an item of faith that cutting taxes on the rich spurs job creation, and Romney-Ryan advocate continuing across-the-board tax cuts.. The question of what rate Romney pays, and how he avoided taxes, is relevant to that discussion, even if it makes the ghost of David Broder shed salty tears.

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Reader Interactions

30Comments

  1. 1.

    arguingwithsignposts

    August 20, 2012 at 8:25 am

    Are there non-salty tears?

  2. 2.

    JPL

    August 20, 2012 at 8:36 am

    The media should just cover Romney when he tells the truth. Of course, that would mean little coverage.

  3. 3.

    Mudge

    August 20, 2012 at 8:48 am

    Romney pays (he says) no less than 13% in taxes (details not given), yet he and his cohort need a tax cut. Makes sense to me. And what about that 50% who pay no (unspoken word, income)taxes? All those little old ladies on Social Security, all those families of 4 making $25,000 a year. Send them a bill. The freeloaders.

  4. 4.

    MattF

    August 20, 2012 at 8:50 am

    I don’t think it’s lies about policy that get a pass, it’s lies with numbers in them. Reporters have a problem with number-thingies– it reminds them of that day in fourth grade they were absent, missed the lesson on ‘division’ and then never caught up.

  5. 5.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    August 20, 2012 at 8:54 am

    I though Gibbs’ retort on Fox News was good when he said that the Obama campaign was not going to be lectured by the Romney campaign on civility when Romney hangs around with RWNJ Birthers like Trump.

  6. 6.

    WereBear

    August 20, 2012 at 8:55 am

    When what you are selling is Lies, the people who sell it must be shills or stupid, even both.

    We get the Media they pay for.

  7. 7.

    Valdivia

    August 20, 2012 at 9:00 am

    @Litlebritdifrnt:

    I loved that clip. He also made a point of saying that Romney himself has been taking a pretty outrageous tone against Obama for a year on trail, saying our President doesn’t believe in America.

  8. 8.

    Patricia Kayden

    August 20, 2012 at 9:01 am

    The Bot has already admitted to paying less taxes than many middle class Americans. I would think that the media and most voters would love to see how he managed to get such a low rate.

  9. 9.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    August 20, 2012 at 9:02 am

    @MattF:

    Reporters have a problem with number-thingies—it reminds them of that day in fourth grade they were absent, missed the lesson on ‘division’ told they couldn’t take their shoes off to count past ten, and then never caught up.

    FTFY

  10. 10.

    Doggie D

    August 20, 2012 at 9:07 am

    It is important to understand that the program is not ‘welfare’. The program is called Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and is funded by an additional special $5 billion in stimulus funding to get the economy going again. The program consists of cash benefits AND NON-CASH BENEFITS, and is not designed to have people sit around eating potato chips while watching TV. The program is designed to ‘end dependence of needy parents on government benefits’. Eliminating federal work requirements by assigning those decisions to the states will aid in the economic recovery.

    All of this is true. Here is a web-site put out by the government that proves it. Take that, Mitt Romney.

  11. 11.

    arguingwithsignposts

    August 20, 2012 at 9:09 am

    Yeah, i can’t believe the 13 percent thing doesn’t get more traction.

  12. 12.

    cmorenc

    August 20, 2012 at 9:11 am

    @MattF:

    I don’t think it’s lies about policy that get a pass, it’s lies with numbers in them. Reporters have a problem with number-thingies—it reminds them of that day in fourth grade they were absent, missed the lesson on ‘division’ and then never caught up.

    Most people who wind up in journalism (whether on-camera or print) took as early and easy an exit as they could find from taking any further science, math, statistics, or other course incorporating any deeper math skills than simple regurgitation of figures cited in a history or political science text.

  13. 13.

    bcinaz

    August 20, 2012 at 9:12 am

    There is no way to have this conversation, since neither side seems willing to state the obvious; CONSUMERS are the actual JOB CREATORS. Without demand, sales, revenue generating activity – employment growth is anemic. Stagnating wages keeps demand suppressed. Punch Line: privately financed campaigns guarantees that no Republican or Democrat will say publicly that there is more than one king of ‘job creator’ in the known universe.

  14. 14.

    Anoniminous

    August 20, 2012 at 9:23 am

    A graph that says much.

    Mostly what it says is the Marginal Tax Rate and Employment aren’t directly linked, but try getting that across to the innumerate slobs in the media.

  15. 15.

    Tom65

    August 20, 2012 at 9:34 am

    MD Governor Martin O’Malley had a great line about the Romney campaign, saying they were like the guy you DON’T want on your pickup basketball team – always fouling and then screaming “foul” every time he gets touched.

  16. 16.

    paradox

    August 20, 2012 at 9:36 am

    I would think the 13% would get a vast amount of traction, except the Obama campaign never says a word about it. The implications are vastly disquieting, yet I don’t empirically know why the fuck they’re so quiet, so I just uncomfortably wonder.

  17. 17.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    August 20, 2012 at 9:37 am

    @paradox: Because it’s not September/October.

  18. 18.

    1badbaba3

    August 20, 2012 at 9:49 am

    @bcinaz: Yes indeedy, both sides do it…. Oy vey.

  19. 19.

    Kane

    August 20, 2012 at 10:01 am

    The “nastiest campaign ever” meme fits perfectly with the ongoing media narrative that negative campaigning on the part of the Democrats is the primary reason why Romney is behind in the polls.

    I have no doubt that the ads have been effective and have had a role in building on President Obama’s lead over Romney, but I think it’s an exaggeration to claim that the ads are the primary factor in the continued growth of Romney’s unfavorables. Most of that credit should go to Romney for being a flawed candidate and for the poor campaign that he has been running.

  20. 20.

    Boots Day

    August 20, 2012 at 10:26 am

    There is no way to have this conversation, since neither side seems willing to state the obvious; CONSUMERS are the actual JOB CREATORS.

    QFT. Putting a few extra million in the pockets of Mitt Romney and Jamie Dimon and Tiger Woods is going to do precisely squat for the economy. Putting a few extra hundreds in the pockets of people who are going to go buy flat-screen TVs and have dinner at the Olive Garden is going to help a lot.

    Years from now, people are going to marvel that we had an election in which one side claimed in all seriousness that the role of the government should be to help the uber-wealthy amass more money.

  21. 21.

    catclub

    August 20, 2012 at 11:35 am

    @arguingwithsignposts: I figure the tears from Salt-water crocodiles are non-salty.

    I remember learning about salmon. In fresh water, they have to keep fresh water out of their cells. In salt water they have to keep salt out of their cells and keep water in.

    Ipso facto, salt water crocodiles must have freshwater tears.

  22. 22.

    Citizen_X

    August 20, 2012 at 11:51 am

    @arguingwithsignposts: Romney’s occular lubricant is a glycerin-based polymer, so yes, if you want to call those “tears.”

  23. 23.

    wenchacha

    August 20, 2012 at 11:53 am

    I would like to know what the highest rate Rmoney paid on all those years. The 13% maybe hasn’t percolated enough, yet. It took a while for Bain to get traction.

  24. 24.

    Alex S.

    August 20, 2012 at 12:07 pm

    I don’t know. I think that the tax return stuff is pretty much a standard of political campaigns. The Obama campaign isn’t excessively harsh when they tackle this issue.

  25. 25.

    Frankensteinbeck

    August 20, 2012 at 12:15 pm

    Let me reiterate: Every anchor, pundit, or director who decides what is reported on the news nationally is rich. They are just smart enough to realize Obama is kicking out the foundations that support their insanely low tax rates – and that Romney is helping him. You don’t need a conspiracy, it is in ALL of their interests simultaneously to make Obama’s attacks on Romney’s taxes out of bounds. Alas, they’re not bright enough to realize that the only way to do that is to bury the story entirely. The Village Punditry tend to think they define what America believes, which is far from true.

  26. 26.

    LanceThruster

    August 20, 2012 at 1:00 pm

    “nastiest campaign ever”

    I truly hope the response to this is, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

    I have been thinking that I would make a proposition to my Republican friends… that if they will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them. ~ Adlai E. Stevenson

  27. 27.

    FlipYrWhig

    August 20, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    Has any candidate in the history of campaigning ever gotten elected on the strength of complaining about the opponent’s mean, nasty words?

    I know media people like to do stories about ads, and then stories about whether the ads are effective (not, of course, whether they’re true or false), but it amounts to nothing and yields no information about, you know, the election and who’s going to win.

  28. 28.

    SiubhanDuinne

    August 20, 2012 at 1:13 pm

    @Doggie D:

    All of this is true. Here is a web-site put out by the government that proves it.

    Yeah, but it’s put out by the government so it doesn’t prove a damn thing.

    /wingnut

  29. 29.

    El Cid

    August 20, 2012 at 1:15 pm

    Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed on Meet the Press goes to town on this bullshit notion that Paul Ryan is “serious”.

    It’s awesome. Even Chuck Todd looks pretty nauseous when Reed first tears at it.

    Video on YouTube here.

    Transcript here.

    Several of the stammer / interjections from original edited out as annoying, and paragraphing added in a few times.

    MS. PEGGY NOONAN (Columnist, Wall Street Journal [Reagan Administration propagandist]): Uh, look, I think the choice of Ryan was admirable, you know.
    __
    And I think Ryan himself is an admirable and accomplished person, and a serious man. He talks about serious issues. He does focus things on the budget, and on entitlement spending. But I also think this is a little bit delicate for Republicans. This is a stressed nation. This is a tough context in which to talk about things that people will hear as cuts.
    __
    I respect the road the Republicans are going down. I think so far in the past week the real news has been they’ve been talking Medicare, and they’ve been winning on it. But long-term I think the Republican issues are growth, jobs, the economy, those are the things people trust the Republican Party on. So this is all very delicate. It’s strong, but it’s delicate.
    __
    …[ATLANTA MAYOR KASIM] REED [D, AS IF YOU WOULDN’T HAVE GUESSED]: I want to push back on this notion of Paul Ryan as a serious man. He…voted for every budget…busting measure under President Bush. He voted for TARP. He asked for money under the American Recovery and Investment Act. He voted for both wars. He put Medicare on a credit card, and then all of a sudden in last 24 months, he’s developing the stature as a serious guy, so I want to push back on that…
    __
    [DANCIN’ DAVE] GREGORY: Well, so why…
    __
    MR. REED: …and then in terms of this week– and then in terms of this week, he has underperformed Sarah Palin. He’s contributed about a one percent bump, and according to Gallup, the Republican pick for Vice President typically performs at about five points.
    __
    GREGORY: So should that be– Mr. Cruz, should that be part of the record here? I mean, why is the Tea Party so supportive of a guy who is part of, what the Tea Party thinks, was profligate spending under his predecessor, under– under President Bush?
    __
    [REPUBLICAN TEABIRCHER SENATE NOMINEE FOR TEXAS TED] CRUZ: Look I think the reason is simple. It’s because Paul Ryan has been serious about talking about these issues, about getting serious about solutions. You know, it’s ironic…
    __
    GREGORY: But votes– but votes matter.
    __
    MR. CRUZ: And…I don’t agree with all of his votes. But…let’s be clear. Let’s contrast the leadership Paul Ryan has shown…with President Obama’s lack of leadership. The Senate for three years hasn’t had a budget. And so it’s very difficult for Democrats to complain, how dare the other side actually get serious about fixing these– these problems when they don’t even pretend to fix the problems.
    __
    MR. REED: He wasn’t serious under President Bush. Why wasn’t he serious when we were funding the war in Iraq? Why didn’t he say America should pay for the war in Afghanistan? Why didn’t he– why didn’t he say that when we have a TARP program, it needs to be available to folks on Main Street? He was for the automotive bailout.
    __
    MR. CRUZ: And, you know, I’m curious, did– did Barack Obama say any of that?
    __
    MR. REED: He– he was for that. No, no.
    __
    MR. CRUZ: Did the Democrats say any of that?
    __
    MR. REED: The Democrats did not. But I tell you what, we’re not walking around talking about a guy who has a career doing something completely different. He has a budget that doesn’t balance, and he’s– he claims that he’s a budget balancer. He’s using supply-side economics. They have a 20 percent tax policy that’s a five-trillion-dollar tax cut.
    __
    MR. CRUZ: And I agree with you.
    __
    MR. REED: That doesn’t make any sense.
    __
    MR. CRUZ: I agree with you but…
    __
    MR. REED: Doesn’t make any sense.
    __
    MR. CRUZ: …that Republicans spent too much…
    __
    MR. REED: And we’re sitting around here, acting and being polite and it doesn’t make sense.

    This really, really deserves front page status.

  30. 30.

    danielx

    August 20, 2012 at 2:40 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    This.

    Yeah, we’ve come a long way from the H.L. Mencken line about how the only way a reporter should look at a politician is down. A great many (though not all) reporters on the national level are called reporters only by courtesy, they’re courtiers. And yes, most if not all Villager-type reporters/columnists/propagandists are members of the 1%.

    See Woodward, Bob; Brooks, David; Will, George; Mitchell, Andrea; etc…etc…etc.

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