1) An anti-Obama email, or satirical column (a column poking fun at the people who love to attack Obama, using an obviously exaggerated bogus claim) appears.

2) A well-known (but often dubious) right-wing blog reports the claim from the email or satire as if it were fact.

3) Conservative radio personalities, columnists, and bloggers go absolutely hyperactive in spreading the false story.

4) Mainstream media outlets (usually FOX News) repeat the false claim.

5) Millions of people hear the claim and spread it through their own emails/social networking.

6) The retractions…apologies…never come…or come too late to have any hope of undoing the damage done.

The current example (thank you, J, for bringing this to my attention): A humor blog ran a piece, purporting to have obtained a copy of Obama’s Columbia thesis.  In the piece, the author claims that a Time Magazine reporter unearthed the document, and that it contained considerable criticism of the Founding Fathers, and the Constitution.  A blogger at Pajamas Media, Michael Ledeen, who is also a contributing editor for the National Review Online…took the bait, unable to resist so-called “proof” that the president held contempt for the Constitution and its authors.  Soon, the item was also carried on American Thinker, and comments began to appear on Twitter.  It would not be long before Rush Limbaugh picked up the story, and ranted about it on his radio show…and as millions of people were misinformed, the number of Americans exposed to this lie growing every hour, it was perhaps inevitable that it would eventually appear on the FOX Nation website.  Then NPR.  Then US News.  Then CS Monitor.  Even after the story was proven false, and meager apologies had been offered…Lou Dobbs of CNN STILL decided to run with the story.

All because some who think they deserve to be viewed as journalists…didn’t bother to verify that a story was true before reporting it.

Of course…if we wait for retractions from the right-wing, we’d better not hold our breath.  Rush went so far as to admit that the story wasn’t true, but then hedged that he’s sure that what he reported falsely…is what Obama is actually thinking.  Michael Ledeen, who in many ways bears the brunt of the responsibility for this situation…shied away from a sincere apology, saying essentially that this is all Obama’s fault for not not making his actual thesis available for scrutiny.

Why is this so important?

As I’ve mentioned before, Mark Twain once said, “a lie can travel halfway around the world, while the truth is putting on its shoes.“  And remember…Twain said this well before the advent of cable new networks, email, and the internet.  Now, irresponsibility on the part of the media has far more serious implications.  If a lie is told…so many more will hear it.  This raises the importance of three things: First, the members of the press and the media need to be EXTRA certain that what they are reporting is the truth.  Second, the members of the media and the press, if they do report a story that is not true, must inform the public QUICKLY and THOROUGHLY….REPEATEDLY, if necessary.  Third, there MUST be a form of accountability for those who do not adhere to the first two items I have mentioned.

Do you see the problem now? The third item, the accountability…does not exist.  And because it does not exist, the first two…are not consistently adhered to.  A lot of attention has been paid to the White House’s recent criticism of FOX News.  Many have spoken/written in support of the criticism.  FOX News, and its conservative allies, have attempted to push back, citing that they still hold themselves to be “fair and balanced.”  Even Representative Eric Cantor (R-VA) has stepped forward, calling for the President to apologize to FOX News for questioning its credibility.

Really? Take a quick look at the sheer volume of incidents reported on Media Matters, incidents where FOX was grossly incorrect, unforgivably partisan, and hopelessly biased.  Don’t like that site? Try a search of all the “FOX News-related” items on Politifact.  Go ahead…take a quick look around the internet, at all the sites that do little more than report on the inconsistencies in FOX’s reporting.  Now try to find some similar results for CNN…or ABC…or CBS…or NBC…or MSNBC…you will find nothing comparable in terms of volume or severity.

So…good for the White House…glad they said something…but you know what?  It’s not enough.  We should be doing more than simply criticizing outlets like FOX.  If I say something false and damaging about another person, depending on the circumstances I may be open to charges of libel, slander, or defamation of character.  If that’s the case, then why can an organization go on television, radio, or the internet…and say something damaging, and heard/read by millions…and there are no consequences.  Thomas Jefferson once wrote, “whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that, whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.“  If we accept this as true, shouldn’t there be some penalty for making the people “poorly-informed?“  The FCC fines a broadcaster if they say certain “four-letter words” on the air…but they can speak the most spurious and damaging lies, without retraction, and not be fined a single penny.  And until this changes, organizations like FOX can continue claim to be “news,” and “balanced,” and “fair“…when nothing could be further from the truth.

I wrote that the fundamental difference between most commentary on the left and commentary on the right, is as follows:

Commentary from media outlets and personalities on the left, such as Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow, consists primary of opinions, backed up by facts, and infused with passion…with the intention of inciting the passions of their viewers to act on the aforementioned facts and opinions.  This, I called “activism.”

Commentary from media outlets and personalities on the right, such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly, consists primary of opinions, backed up by misinformation/disinformation, and infused with passion…with the intention of inciting the passions of their viewers to act on the aforementioned misinformation and opinions.  This, I called “propaganda.”

Some insist that this assessment reflects an opinion.  Some attempted to explain that which side is in possession of facts is subject to interpretation.  But see, that’s the funny thing about facts…they are facts REGARDLESS of what my opinion my be.  In truth, they are facts with no regard for who speaks them, or for who believes them.  I will explain, as I believe that there exists in this country a fundamental misconception regarding “fact” and “opinion.”

A SIMPLE EXAMPLE:

If I say that the sun is a near-perfect, non-solid (plasmatic) sphere, consisting primarily of hydrogen and helium…that is a FACT.  It is a fact, because it is supported by a wealth of evidence, stemming from extensive research.  This would be a fact if Keith Olbermann said it…or if Rush Limbaugh said it.  It would be a fact even if I didn’t like Keith Olbermann or Rush Limbaugh and they said it.  It would be a fact even if nobody accepted it…in fact, for a prolonged period of human history, this was either “not known” or “not accepted,” but this didn’t make it any less true, or any less a fact.

If you say that the sun (we’re assuming you’re not speaking metaphorically) is a giant flashlight, that God turns on in the morning and off in the evening…that is FALSE.  It would be just as false if Keith or Rush said it…and just as false even if everyone agreed with you.  You might even offer up facts to support the claim: “It is bright and emits light, like a flashlight…and it is dark at night and bright in the day.“  It should be obvious, however, that these facts do not make the end assertion and more true or and less false.  It is still…not a FACT.

If I say that God made the sun…that is an OPINION.  I can list any facts I wish to support this, but as it is completely impossible for the statement to be proven true or false, it will remain in the realm of opinion.  I might as well have said that “the sun is good” or that “the sun is stupid.“  These value judgments similarly express opinions, and no amount of “proving my case” will change that.  Similar to facts, the opinions do not gain any merit based on who utters them, nor based on how many people share them.

A MORE COMPLEX, AND CURRENTLY RELEVANT EXAMPLE:

If I say that America tortured detainees through the use of waterboarding…that is a FACT.  It is a fact, because it is supported by a wealth of evidence.  It is documented and admitted that we waterboarded detainees, and waterboarding meets every available definition of torture, whether we are looking at Webster’s Dictionary, at our own federal law, or at international treaty language.  This would be true if Keith said it or if Rush said it.  It would be true even if not one single American believed it.

If you say that waterboarding was performed legally…that is FALSE.  Whether or not the President approved it, or Department of Justice attorneys approved it…they do not make federal law (only Congress has that power) and they do not interpret the law (only the courts have that power).  Waterboarding is torture, by all available definitions and it is clearly forbidden according to our federal law and the international treaties that we have entered into.  Keith or Rush could make any statements they wished to to justify it…it would still be illegal and false to say otherwise.  Any facts regarding it’s efficacy (or lack thereof), it’s intended use to “make us safer,” or of the threat presented by a particularly detainee…would do nothing to render this statement any more true, or any less false.  It is still…not a FACT.

If I say that torturing detainees is un-American…that is an OPINION.  I can cite any Christian or historical objections I may have, I may mention that it is an illegal act, but in the end I am making a value judgment  which cannot be proven true or false.  This will remain an opinion regardless of whether Keith or Rush speaks it…regardless of how we feel about those speakers…regardless of how many people agree or disagree with it.

THE ORIGINAL ARGUMENT:

So, when I say that Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow use facts upon which they base opinions, this is a statement which does not reflect my views of them nor their opinions.  The facts which they employ, and which I have extensively researched, would be facts even if they were not the people uttering them.  They would be facts even if I disliked Keith and Rachel…even if I did not believe what they were saying was true.  Now, that being said…they use these facts to formulate opinions, and those opinions I do not always agree with.  That’s to be expected…I may disagree with their opinions…but disagreeing with the facts upon which they form those opinions would be pointless, and indeed, foolish.

In much the same way, when I say that Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Bill O’Reilly use misinformation and falsehoods to form their opinions, this is ALSO a statement which does not reflect on my views of the speakers nor their opinions.  The falsehoods which they employ, and which I have extensively researched, would be false no matter who spoke them.  They would be false regardless of my feelings towards Limbaugh, Beck, and O’Reilly…false whether I liked or disliked them, agreed or disagreed with them.  Sometimes, as with the “flashlight” example above, these individuals will use facts to attempt to “prove” their false statements…but as in the “flashlight” example, these facts do not make their statements any less false.  That being said…since it is these falsehoods which they use to form their opinions, I am most likely to disagree with their opinions.  The falsehoods themselves, being false, do not require my “agreement” nor “disagreement“…but the opinions based upon those statements ARE subject to judgment, and will likely only be agreed with by those who either do not require that opinions be based on facts, or those who do not know that their falsehoods do not represent facts.

To people who do not value the truth, or who cannot tell falsehood from truth, or who cannot separate statements of fact from statements of opinion…their lives AND OPINIONS are at the mercy of any speaker who knows how to capture their interest and how to speak to their fears and prejudices.  Sadly…about one quarter of Americans fit this description, and even more tragically they’re not reading this right now…they’re listening to Rush or watching FOX.

Here’s a clip containing the senior Bush’s comments, plus the reactions of both Olbermann and Maddow:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzmW6nMCJ-A

While I certain understand that as father to George W. Bush, George Sr. must certainly take great pain from the wealth of criticism levied at his son over the years.  However, Bush like so many others, fails to realize the following points:

1 - Coarse political criticism has existed since the advent of American politics…and even predates it considerably.

2 - It has neither increased nor decreased in its “incivility.”

3 - Perhaps most importantly…not all commentary and criticism is created equal.

The first point made above should be obvious to anyone with even a high school graduate’s schooling in American History.  For those wishing to learn more about the history of American political discourse, this site is one of the best collections of links that I have ever seen.  From George Washington to Barack Obama, the free press and political publications have been rife with near constant criticism coming from opposing quarters, and sometimes even from within a politician’s own camp.

Which leads nicely into my second point.  This criticism, historically, was often bombastic…and occasionally vile.  George Washington, despite being arguably the most popular President in U.S. History, was often portrayed as old and indecisive…and his actions regarding our relationships with Britain and France were vociferously objected to by political enemies.  John Adams was mocked openly for his weight, his angry temper, and some of his positions which often resembled more “monarchic” thinking than “democratic.”  Andrew Jackson was denounced as a country bumpkin, and his wife was referred to as a whore and worse.

Take this political cartoon as an example: notice that Lincoln leans on a circus sign…mocking him for holding blacks in high esteem, while insinuating that his insistence on bringing blacks into the political sphere would do little more than to create a circus side show:

Or this one…portraying Lincoln as no more than a war-hungry idiot, trampling the Constitution:

No…mockery and personal attacks are nothing new to the American political arena.  In fact, it is entirely possible than instead of bemoaning how much our culture and political criticism has changed…we might do better to decry the fact that it has changed so little.  The means of distribution (cable television, tweets to cellphones, the internet, email) may have changed, allowing many more citizens to be exposed to the criticism of politicians and their policies, but the content and tone of this criticism has changed little in the last 200 years.

That being said, perhaps the real point missed by Bush Sr., and so many other Americans, is that all criticism is not created equal.

It is certain that Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow criticized George W. Bush with frequency and with passion.  They provided their audiences with facts, reports, studies…and they used an impassioned rhetoric to engage their viewers, to entertain their viewers, and to attempt to arouse their viewers passions to act on the previously mentioned facts, reports, and studies.  There is a word for this: it’s called activism.  What they told viewers was happening, was truly happening, and what they said would come to pass…did.  A failed war based on a lie.  Far-reaching violations of the Constitution, resulting in abuses to civil liberties.  A failure to keep Americans safe from terrorists.  A failure to aid Americans threatened by a natural disaster.  An economy in ruins.

It is certain that Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, and Rush Limbaugh defended George W. Bush, and criticize Barack Obama, with frequency and passion.  They provide their audiences with distorted information and sometimes outright falsehoods, based on what they know to be their viewers preconceived prejudices and fears…and they use an impassioned rhetoric to engage their viewers, to entertain their viewers, and to attempt to arouse their viewers passions to act on the previously mentioned misinformation and disinformation.  There is a word for this: it’s called propaganda.  What they tell us is happening, is not and will never be revealed to be, and what they tell us will happen, has no chance of occurring.  No communist America.  No destruction of the upper class.  No widespread abandonment of morality.  No being absorbed into some “international monolithic world order.“  No “shadow government” of czars.

These different approaches can be seen reflected in those listening to the commentators who employ them.  Moderates and liberals watched Olbermann and Maddow.  They learned of Bush’s subversions of the Constitution, his foreign policy debacles, his hawkish deceptions, and his economic blunders as they were occurring…and they were displeased.  Moderates and conservatives similarly watched O’Reilly, Beck, and Limbaugh.  They remained blissfully ignorant of Bush’s actions and the consequences, many of them immediate, to our country.  They would excuse and defend Bush’s actions right up until the point that he was no longer politically necessary and viable.  But it was too late.  The damage was done.  And now they join in the conservative chorus, propelled by conservative pundits, to criticize and denounce all efforts by a new, Democratic president to engage in much-needed reform and to undo the damage of his predecessor both at home and abroad.  In short, they failed to see what one president was doing AS HE WAS DOING IT…yet feel they have the capacity with the current president to predict WHAT THE FUTURE OUTCOMES of his actions will be.

I’m sorry, George Bush.  I know it must be hard to hear of the comprehensive failings of your son.  But to object to those people who were trying to tell us of these failings as they were occurring, as opposed to those who told conservatives of them only once it was already too late…is irresponsible.  This criticism of yours represents a level of self-delusion and petulance that is not suited to a man of your years and political experience.  And to group all contemporary political criticism together, does a disservice to the both the critics and the American people…who desperately need to learn how to tell which they should be listening to, and which they should be ignoring.