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Pious Bias: Lies and the lying liars who attribute them to the other party
Slate ^ | September 15, 2003 | William Saletan

Posted on 09/16/2003 7:02:19 AM PDT by EllaMinnow

Pious Bias Lies and the lying liars who attribute them to the other party. By William Saletan Updated Monday, September 15, 2003, at 3:28 PM PT

I have a message for my liberal friends, relatives, and colleagues: If you think Republicans play dirty and Democrats don't, open your other eye.

I've been hearing this complaint everywhere I go. It seems to be the emerging centerpiece of the Democratic campaign message in 2004. Exhibit A is George W. Bush's victory in the court fight over the 2000 Florida recount. Exhibit B is the ongoing attempt by the Republican governor and Republican legislature of Texas to redraw that state's congressional districts. Exhibit C is the recall of Gov. Gray Davis, D-Calif.

The complaints are spreading and becoming more shrill. At last Tuesday's debate among the Democratic presidential candidates, Carol Moseley Braun said Bush "was not elected by the American people." Al Sharpton added, "We are witnessing a nonmilitary civil war. It started with the recount in Florida, it went to the redistricting in Texas, now it's the [recall] in California. … It's a rejection of the American people."

On Saturday, at a Democratic steak fry in Iowa, several presidential candidates stood behind Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, as he charged, "Bush stole the election. … We know what the Republican strategy is: suppress the vote. … Look what they did in Florida. Look what they're trying to do in Texas. Look what they're trying to do in California." Former President Bill Clinton told the crowd that in 2000, five justices of the Supreme Court "thought it was time for the minority to have the White House, they stopped counting votes in Florida, and they just gave it to them." Clinton said Republicans "believe in government by ideology, enemies, and attack. We believe in government by experiment, evidence, and argument."

Really? Let's look at the record.

In Florida, Al Gore originally asked for a recount only in counties in which he thought Democrats would gain votes. Moreover, to be precise, he wasn't for "counting" more ballots; he was for reinterpreting already-counted ballots until he came out ahead. Gore's lawyer, David Boies, argued that ballots should be interpreted as votes for Bush or Gore based on "the intent of the voter, not how the voter manifests his or her intent"—in other words, without rules. Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a Gore surrogate, actually claimed, "The punch cards were wrong." Gore eventually moderated his position, but not until he had to.

In Texas, Republicans seeking to redraw congressional districts in the third year of the decade are violating custom but not law. On Friday, a panel of federal judges dismissed a lawsuit by Democrats claiming that the GOP's redistricting tactics violated the Voting Rights Act. As for the 11 Democratic state senators who fled to Oklahoma and then New Mexico to prevent the majority from gathering a quorum, I can only imagine the cries of outrage I'd be hearing from my liberal friends if those were Republicans thwarting a Democratic legislature.

Many Democrats have questioned Bush's legitimacy because he lost the nationwide popular vote. It doesn't seem to bother them that this principle—the right of the majority to get like-minded representation, regardless of which party wins jurisdiction by jurisdiction—is exactly the principle they deny in Texas. Gore lost the Electoral College while winning a 48 percent plurality of the vote nationwide. Texas Republicans lost a majority of the state's congressional seats in 2002 while winning 56 percent of the vote statewide.

In California, the recall process is authorized by the state constitution. More than 1.3 million California voters signed petitions calling for this recall. Maybe that's because Davis got a lower percentage of the vote statewide in 2002 than Bush got nationwide in 2000. Or maybe it's because 63 percent of likely California voters disapprove of Davis' performance in office (down from 72 percent in August). And before you complain about Republicans using sneaky tactics to oust an honestly elected governor, let's hear your defense of the $7 million Davis spent in last year's Republican gubernatorial primary to deprive general-election voters of a moderate Republican alternative.

Are Republicans nasty? Do they refuse to accept election defeats? Do they subvert respect for democracy? If so, they have no monopoly on these vices. They aren't the ones claiming that our current president "was not elected by the American people." They aren't the ones declaring "a nonmilitary civil war." And it was Clinton, not a Republican former president, who asserted at the Iowa steak fry that the other party "tried to put more arsenic in the water."

A day after Clinton leveled that charge, ABC's This Week aired a delicious exchange between George Stephanopoulos and Howard Dean aboard a Dean campaign van. Stephanopoulos asked Dean whether it was true, as rival candidate Dick Gephardt alleged, that Dean had supported $270 billion in Medicare cuts advocated by Newt Gingrich in 1995. Dean said it was "very unlikely." Then Stephanopoulos showed Dean newspaper clips backing up the allegation. "It's pretty clear that you said you would accept a 7 to 10 percent cut in the rate of growth of Medicare," said Stephanopoulos. "Oh!" Dean interjected, raising his eyebrows. "Cutting the rate of growth! That's much different."

Excuse me, but wasn't that difference exactly what Clinton deliberately blurred in his 1996 campaign? Didn't he beat Bob Dole by accusing Dole and Gingrich of cutting Medicare?

I'm not excusing the games Republicans play. But by projecting all evil onto Republicans, Democrats spread the same political disease: the notion that you don't have to be wary of lying or cheating unless the other side is doing it. Lying and cheating don't belong to Republicans or Democrats. We're all susceptible, and we're all guilty.

Sure, some people are more guilty than others. But if that's your obsession, I commend to you the words of my colleague, Jack Shafer: If you're interested in which wing lies more, you're probably not very interested in the truth.


TOPICS: Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: lies
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1 posted on 09/16/2003 7:02:20 AM PDT by EllaMinnow
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To: redlipstick
The author is correct in pointing out Democrat hypocrisy. It's unfortunate in a way too, because it is this sort of hypocrisy that is driving reasonable people away from the Democrats. I'd like to see the left wing of the Democrat party continue to marginalize itself a while longer - at least to the point where conservatives are able to gain the votes required to overcome liberal efforts to usurp the Judicial nomination process.
2 posted on 09/16/2003 7:08:31 AM PDT by SolutionsOnly
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To: redlipstick
Politics and the desire for power is dirty, regardless of which side.
3 posted on 09/16/2003 7:11:51 AM PDT by stuartcr
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To: redlipstick
But if that's your obsession, I commend to you the words of my colleague, Jack Shafer: If you're interested in which wing lies more, you're probably not very interested in the truth.

A more appropriate truism I've seldom heard. Now granted, we haven't slipped to the shrilly shrieking depths of the DU'ers, but this is a line that many freepers would also do good to take to heart.
4 posted on 09/16/2003 7:15:02 AM PDT by CanisRex (my .02)
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To: SolutionsOnly
I agree. The dems - especially the presidential candidates - have painted themselves into a tiny corner right now.
Speaking as a Republican, I think we need to take advantage of their leftward tilt before they aim back to the center. We are in a position to swoop up a large portion of the middle, who are generally favorable towards President Bush.

Mind you, I think Karl Rove is doing just that.
5 posted on 09/16/2003 7:18:57 AM PDT by EllaMinnow (#213 of the 537.)
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To: cyncooper
A dem GETS it!
6 posted on 09/16/2003 7:20:45 AM PDT by EllaMinnow (#213 of the 537.)
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To: redlipstick
I got this email from a conservative friend, this morning. It deals with lies and statements about Iraq by key rats when the Clintoon was president and how they have changed with GW as president.:

"Less they forget.....

WMD ???????????? HMMMM.... "One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line." President Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998.

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program." President Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998.

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face." Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998.

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983." Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18,1998.

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998.

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process." Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998.

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies." Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999.

"There is no doubt that. Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of an illlicit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies." Letter to President Bush, Signed by Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL,) and others, Dec, 5, 2001.

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandated of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivering them." Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002.

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country." Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power." Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002.

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002.

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities. Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..." Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002.

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002.

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Jay Rockerfeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002, "He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do." Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002.

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his mi ssile delivery capability, and his nuclear program.He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members. It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons." Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002, "We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction." Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002.

"[W]ithout question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real ..." Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003.

SO NOW THE DEMOCRATS SAY PRESIDENT BUSH LIED, THAT THERE NEVER WERE ANY WMD'S AND HE TOOK US TO WAR FOR HIS OIL BUDDIES??? RIGHT!!!
7 posted on 09/16/2003 7:22:06 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (May our brave warriors kill all of the Islamokazis/facists/nazis to prevent future 9/11's.)
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To: redlipstick
Wow.

I am impressed with Saletan's honesty here, even if he refers to "the games Republicans play", which in actuality is that we follow the rules and the dems distort words, language, and laws beyond all recognition to their meaning in fact.

I am biting my tongue on expressing my thoughts on that PIG clinton saying Republicans tried to put more arsenic in the water. That is just a perfect example of the lies he spreads. What a DISGRACE.
8 posted on 09/16/2003 7:22:46 AM PDT by cyncooper
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To: Grampa Dave
Thanks, GD.
I rarely bookmark my own threads, but I'm bookmarking this one, so that I'll have your excellent post handy.
9 posted on 09/16/2003 7:24:17 AM PDT by EllaMinnow (#213 of the 537.)
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To: SolutionsOnly
Yes, but there are more unreasonable in-duh-viduals being driven to the Democrats (or, in their tacit inferiority, too afraid to leave...)
10 posted on 09/16/2003 7:24:33 AM PDT by bt_dooftlook
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Comment #11 Removed by Moderator

To: stuartcr
Politics and the desire for power is dirty, regardless of which side.

Notice that dirty tricks by Republicans are given no example in this article? It points out efforts by them to enforce rulings and laws, but not dirty tricks.

The dems' trick is to try to thwart the law, and when they are challenged they point the finger and say it is their opponent who is engaging in the wrongdoing.

12 posted on 09/16/2003 7:30:29 AM PDT by cyncooper
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To: ilosetoo
LOL!
13 posted on 09/16/2003 7:34:06 AM PDT by EllaMinnow (#213 of the 537.)
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To: bt_dooftlook
I have faith that truth will win out in the end - as long as conservatives show some spine and continue to stand up to the spin and propaganda. The arguments from the likes of Al Franken, Joe Conason, and the DNC are not sustainable over the long run. It's only when the conservatives go silent and become timid that the left can advance it's agenda, for the truth is not on their side. The Republican defense (or lack thereof) of Manuel Estrada is a painful reminder of this.
14 posted on 09/16/2003 7:36:16 AM PDT by SolutionsOnly
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To: Grampa Dave
Note to Dem Elites:

SHUT UP AND PLAY FAIR!!!


15 posted on 09/16/2003 7:37:35 AM PDT by Choose Ye This Day (Moving to Turkmenistan, where all the jobs are.)
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To: MNLDS
That is a great poster.

Lunatic Lying Libs never shut up until the Good Lord make his final house call on them.
16 posted on 09/16/2003 7:42:52 AM PDT by Grampa Dave (May our brave warriors kill all of the Islamokazis/facists/nazis to prevent future 9/11's.)
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To: redlipstick
In Texas, Republicans seeking to redraw congressional districts in the third year of the decade are violating custom but not law.

There is some debate about whether they are even violating that. Democrat Lt. Governor Bullock threw out the two-thirds rule for consideration of Senate bills in the 1992 redistricting fight.

17 posted on 09/16/2003 7:42:55 AM PDT by Zack Nguyen
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To: redlipstick
BTTT
18 posted on 09/16/2003 7:47:49 AM PDT by conservativemusician
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To: redlipstick
INTREP
19 posted on 09/16/2003 8:56:47 AM PDT by LiteKeeper
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To: conservativemusician
bump
20 posted on 09/16/2003 9:00:14 AM PDT by samiam1972 (Live simply so that others may simply live!)
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