It really annoys me that political "reporting" these days is nothing more than quotes from representatives of both campaigns. How about some fact checking instead of just spreading he-said, they-said nonsense?
I would really like to see both candidates held to a standard of honesty in their claims about each other and their political histories. Apparently that's too much work for reporters to be bothered with. Candidates will generally say whatever they think will help them win, even if it's one blatant lie and scare tactic piled on top of another. Palin claiming that Obama "associates with terrorists" shouldn't just be debunked, it should be responded to by the media as being a blatant lie, with the obvious conclusion of how can we trust anything this campaign says? If it can't be substantiated, why should it be reported as anything other than another lie?
McCain is now questioning "Who is Obama really?" That isn't just a character attack, it's unsubstantiated bullshit and rumor mongering. That the associated press considers it fit for print without debunking gives them all the credibility of a tabloid.
The same annoyance applies to the WA governors race, where in this case, there seems to be plenty of half-truths and double-talk to easily fill a whole "so you want to be a politician" self-improvement book. In this case, it seems a little more evenly distributed on both campaigns.
I would really like to see both candidates held to a standard of honesty in their claims about each other and their political histories. Apparently that's too much work for reporters to be bothered with. Candidates will generally say whatever they think will help them win, even if it's one blatant lie and scare tactic piled on top of another. Palin claiming that Obama "associates with terrorists" shouldn't just be debunked, it should be responded to by the media as being a blatant lie, with the obvious conclusion of how can we trust anything this campaign says? If it can't be substantiated, why should it be reported as anything other than another lie?
McCain is now questioning "Who is Obama really?" That isn't just a character attack, it's unsubstantiated bullshit and rumor mongering. That the associated press considers it fit for print without debunking gives them all the credibility of a tabloid.
The same annoyance applies to the WA governors race, where in this case, there seems to be plenty of half-truths and double-talk to easily fill a whole "so you want to be a politician" self-improvement book. In this case, it seems a little more evenly distributed on both campaigns.