the media and truth?

It was interesting to hear Sen. John McCain attack Sen. Barack Obama for not honoring a campaign financing promise that, from what I have read so far, McCain can't prove Obama even made. The news media immediately picked up on it-- will Obama keep his word and go public for his financing in the fall? Obama Waffles. Except did he? How many readers or listeners bother to find out what was actually said? Why do you suppose this has come up right now? The Carpetbagger blog describes well this situation. That's not what I've been reading in the news.

We learned with President Bush that when he would say something, the newspapers and the right wing spouted it out as truth. People hear it enough and some believe it must be so. McCain has learned well to play this dishonest game. Straight talk express long ago became crooked express twisted by his desire to become president. This well-known picture says it all. This is what McCain has done to gain power.

It's not hard to understand why he would try to intimidate Obama into committing to depending on public financing. Small donors are what Obama has been depending upon to challenge the Clinton machine-- and the small donors have come through big-time. It is likely that in the fall, with Bush's low ratings and how McCain has hitched his wagon to that train, he would be outspent if he has to depend on true believers sending him donations.

Why now, however, makes less sense. Unlike the Republican party, where the candidate is definite, the Democratic party has yet to choose a presumptive winner. My guess is McCain would prefer to run against Sen. Hillary Clinton. Anything he says to put down Obama plays to her benefit.

The primary is not over. Hillary could still easily win. The media pontificates as though it's all been decided. It has not been. We will know more after Ohio and Texas. These primaries, however, could end in a statistical dead heat which might not be settled until the Convention.

Elections have been stolen before. There was something odd that happened in New York City-- Unofficial Tallies in City Understated Obama Vote. These understated results in 80 districts wouldn't change Clinton's win, but might they impact delegate count? What if this is repeated in Ohio where a lot of us were suspicious of the results in 2004.

Hillary and the media are both distorting Obama's position on issues and his experience. There is extensive information online regarding his plans, what he would like to do, his experience in state politics, his education, his ability to bring people together as he is doing right now, but the news media follows along with the Clinton line-- no meat. I realize some people who deride Obama are doing so because they want a president who is a dictator, not one who is a leader. Maybe some have forgotten leadership is supposed to be about inspiring and gathering together others where together we do the work.

IF you want to know Obama's exact policies, do some research. Andrew Sullivan, in Daily Dish, writes about listening to Obama's in depth speeches on various topics and provides the transcripts-- in his own words. If you have been one to believe Obama has no statements out there on specifics, please click on the Sullivan link.

I guess sometimes we all want information spoon fed us in easy bites. The news media has gotten used to that for themselves. After all, that's how the Bush administration has done as it provided the news outlets the stories as they want them delivered-- in convenient clips.

On one program after another, I hear the media talk about how honorable McCain is. He appears to have been at one time-- although he was tangled up in the savings and loan scandals of the 1980s: McCain and the Keating Five. Even remembering the questionable ethics of his connection to Charles Keating, I thought at one time McCain was a good man-- even if he had made some mistakes in judgment. I thought that in 2000; but if he was honorable, he does not appear to be anymore. You see it in statement after statement as he plays the fear card, promises genocide if we leave Iraq, backs off on whether torture is okay, toadies up to the religious right, and, I think, tries to aid Hillary in getting the nomination. The picture above says well who John McCain is today.

Whatever you do, however you get your information, whoever you favor for the presidency, don't trust any one media as your sole source. Go looking for actual quotes when something is claimed. Check multiple outlets. If you don't do that, you are going to get the government you deserve. It's not too late to turn this country around, but it takes us as a people doing it, not expecting it to be magically delivered.