optimism

Not to be a jinx-y mc-jinx, but I have to say it's nice to report that certain practices of the Mc"factually challenged" Campaign are getting the spotlight. So I'm feeling optimism today. Optimism and anger are not mutually exclusive.

TAPPED has my favorite quote from the Republican primary debates, from McCain: "I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time."

First off, there's Rove saying there's a "100 percent truth test" that McCain's ads go beyond. I love that he believes there's a test, and that he has a duty to remark when the line is crossed.

This is tied into all the coverage of McCain lying. A lot. = actual, if tentative coverage. Like the press is the oft-abused child to the manipulative fear mongering of McCain's unbalanced step-father. Finally finding its voice! Anyway, finally a few reporters have remembered their f-ing job. And the gentle nature of Barack Obama's campaign response irks the liberal blogosphere. Although the memo released to the media has the best line not on television: "McCain would rather lose his integrity than lose an election."

So the great maverick went on The View and lied, and then was accused of lying, and said he didn't. Which is a lie. And that's getting attention today, which is something, eh? Thinkprogress has a page on all of his flip-flops (he claimed to the Ladies that no one could pin one on him). There's also a fact-checking link machine for all the lies. Lots of fun bouncing around the "series of tubes" reading about these!
And isn't it a little pathological to actually say out loud that Palin has never accepted earmarks as governor?

Talking Points Memo had a great comment about how the press is handling the lying. The distinction is made between media striving for accuracy in reporting, the communication of a balanced and fair story, and the media outlets more concerned with balance than accuracy. This offers some explanation for what has happened to 24-News and major newspapers in the country weakened under the force of Rovian fear-mongering. The classic example of balance over accuracy when some stories don't need both sides reported is that when a story about the holocaust gets coverage, there is no obligation to give any time at all to the groups who believe it didn't happen. Because those groups are wrong. Therefore, an arena where balance is the most important will likely fall victim to inaccuracy or at least dependence on less-than reputable sources. Am I going too far? After all, I don't watch a lot of 24 hour news, or read USA Today...

Linking back to present coverage, last week there was a lot of the-truth-is-always-stretched-during-campaigning, like there's less obligation to report inaccuracies when they happen regularly, or when most people are expecting to be lied to. Then, in order to not get accused by the McCain whiners camp that reporting is unbalanced, speeches from the Obama camp are scraped for lies too. But McCain lying doesn't obligate a report on lying in the campaign. It could, with sufficient evidence. But going on about future republican reform and how "the fundamentals of the economy are strong" is its own story. Screw balance. He lies. That's a great article. Period.

OK, here are the articles I printed to read last night:
The extensively-researched article from the Sunday Times that everyone is talking about. It links perfectly to the painfully witty cartoon with W.'s Dr. Evil to Madam Palin's Mini-Me. Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes

On my To-Read-At-The-Gym list (yeah, I'm wicked cool) is this report from Philip Gourevitch in the New Yorker: Letter from Alaska.
Gourevitch wrote "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorow We Will Be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda" which is a heartbreaking and important book about visiting Rwanda just after the genocide ended in 1994. For that he earned my respect, and I look forward to his perspective on Palin.

so..... there's much that should be added, or at least disseminated. but this was going to be about optimism, and I'm still feeling pretty good.