As my colleague PJM in Barcelona put it is so pithily on PJM this morning, “First it was fauxtography, now its faux TV guests.” Apparently three Southern women went on Good Morning America Friday to tell us how they were leaving the Republicans to be Democrats. Trouble is, cursory Internet research showed two of them, at least, weren’t really true Repubs in the first place.
The big credit on this story goes to Brent Baker of Newsbusters who does a lot of fine work at the Media Research Center. It’s not surprising, of course. We’re used to this kind of disinfo from the MSM and the reason it happens couldn’t be more obvious. It’s not deliberate in cases like this. Someone comes to them with a story that fits their (the network’s) narrative and they don’t really bother to check. The results are pernicious. I don’t watch GMA or Today – I’m too busy and it’s not my thing anyway – but as we all know their audiences are huge. Let’s see if GMA has the honesty to take a second look at this. Your average blogger would be in serious trouble for this kind of distortion. But we’re supposed to be slapdash.
Roger: “cursory Internet research SHOWED two of them, AT LEAST, weren’t really true Repubs in the first place.”
And here’s the “cursory research”:
1. Rasmussen, who claimed she “voted Republican in every election since [she] was 18″, is on the board of Planned Parenthood.
2. Herbison, who said she “used to consider [herself] to be a Republican”, previously worked for both Republican and Democratic politicians in Tennessee.
Given what they claimed, the only way this story can be shown to be “faux” would be if someone finds actual voter registration records showing either of them registered Democratic.
Once again, much ado about nothing.
Reading this post, and everything else that has been posted here over the last few days, one would think it was a slow news week. One would scarcely suspect that neoconservatives were in a high-stakes battle with McCain, Warner and other erstwhile GWOT allies over the efficacy and morality of torturing suspected terrorists.
“One would scarcely suspect that conservatives were in a high-stakes battle with McCain, Warner and other erstwhile GWOT allies over the attempt to blatantly misread the Geneva Conventions in an attempt to grant US citizen constitutional rights to unlawful combatants.”
Fixed your typos. C’mon markus, that was, “stuck on stupid,” even for you.
Once again, much ado about nothing.
Well, that is certainly true. Why was the whole thing considered newsworthy and interesting in the first place? You would think a couple of savages had just converted to Christianity and were testifying for the congregation. No doubt the fundamentalists at GMA find it edifying but it doesn’t do much for me.
Well, I have to agree, the story lead here doesn’t seem to fit with the actual story. Last I checked, Big-Tent Republicans accept people who may support Planned Parenthood and also people that may be willing to work for US politicans (no matter their party affiliation).
Have we fallen so far into partisan bullshit that any deviation from the Hard Right makes a person a closet Democrat?
I heard a story recently about Gov. Rhodes, an old Ohio Republican. When there were party differences, he worked closely with the Democratic leaders… focusing on what was best for Ohio, even through compromise, rather than holding to a single unmutable line. He was a Son of Ohio, before he was a Republican and he saw his opponent in the same light. Our current deviation from this position seems like a dangerous situation to say the least. I don’t have to make up faux centrist Republicans (male or female) who are unhappy with the current situation and who have stated their intent to not support the party this fall. There are three within shouting distance of my cubicle here at the office. Is it really unreasonable to think that these women may have been honest to God real Republicans (You know, the ones that support small government, balanced budgets and a right to privacy)? Does working at a Planned Parenthood site go against this ideal? Or, does it only go against the more recent hijacking of the Republican party by those who have a desire to see the legislation of metaphysical beliefs?
So, in this topsy-turvy world of punditry… The Democrats are evil for making use of their constitution right to seek a new Senator to replace Liberman (who they disagreed with), but it’s fine to denounce fellow Americans that claim to be Republican… if they might support something liberal.
Sheesh.
Steven — the relevant individuals “stuck on stupid” regarding this issue are not me or any other liberal Democrat axiomatically unworthy your respect, but rather the McCains, Warners, Lindsay Grahams, Powells, and the many JAG officers willing to speak out.
No doubt the liberals at GMA are eager to find former Republicans that have switched party affiliation in order to present the appearance of a shift in the electorate to the left. Too bad that the real shift has been from left to right for years, and trying to mask that with stunts like this convinces no one but the poor saps on the left who are desperate to maintain the fantasy that they will once again become the majority and ascend to power. You know, just like every election is going to be the one where they will finally kick the Republicans out. Until they lose. Again.
When the real war starts the left is finished.
“Steven — the relevant individuals “stuck on stupid” regarding this issue are not me or any other liberal Democrat axiomatically unworthy your respect, but rather the McCains, Warners, Lindsay Grahams, Powells, and the many JAG officers willing to speak out.”
Yup. They are indeed, stuck on stupid. As well as you and the other liberal Democrats, who are unworthy of our respect.
“…any other liberal Democrat axiomatically unworthy your respect”
Everytime I find a liberal Democrat worthy of my respect, one of three things quickly happens:
1. He goes off the deep end and the respect ends.
2. He gets run out of the Democratic party.
3. He sees the handwriting on the wall and becomes a Republican!
I believe that there are plenty of such liberal Democrats remaining in this country, quietly keeping their heads down. This belief resides more from goodwill and optimism than any hard evidence, however.
That’s because there are fewer and fewer public, liberal Democrats that still value the concept of “liberal” the way, say, I do. Most people claiming that title today are, in fact, leftists that want to use “liberal” to cloak their intentions. So to fix your typo again, there are a vanishingly small number of leftists that are worthy of my respect. When I see a leftist besides Christopher Hitchens that has:
1. read and understood the Geneva Conventions,
2. knows the difference betweens signed conventions and unsigned conventions,
3. gives me some reason to believe that he isn’t lying through his teeth about the nature of the conventions in order to score propaganda points,
…then we can talk about respect. In the meantime, the fact that McCain, Powell, their imitators, and a bunch of lawyers would preen for the above referenced crowd somehow manages not to surprise me. It is pathetic that the Dems aren’t meaningfully involved in the discussion at all.
And back on the original topic, this whole process can work in reverse to. Near 100% public leftists seem incredibly unwilling or unable to talk about international law as it actually is, but rather to always assume that is what they want it to be. That this correlation exists does not confine this behavior only to said leftists.
I like how these women always appear in threes. Remember the ny times three non-partisan anti-Afghanistan war 9/11 widows later to be recycled as non-partisan anti-Iraq war 9/11 widows.
One ny times “journalist” did have a guy she identified as a independent who had voted for Bush the first time who was now supporting kerry, then 2 monthe later had the same guy as a Republican who voted the first time for Bush and who was now going to vote kerry.
Turns out she “accidently” used the wrong name in the column the but couldn’t produce the name of the Republican or where he lived. How convenient was that?
These people are lame as can be and I have to say it’s fun to watch. It’s like watching woody allen slip on the giant banana peel over and over again in Sleeper.