The blithely marginally aware Joy Behar accosted Senator McCain on "The View" last week. The accusation: lying in campaign ads. Let's have a look.
Of course, Ms. Behar is wrong, lying about lies. Byron York reviews it on NRO. I can't do justice to the piece but the concluding paragraph is a fine summary.
Obama’s explanation [that he only wanted kindergarten children advised regarding inappropriate touching] for his vote has been
accepted by nearly all commentators. And perhaps that is indeed why he
voted for Senate Bill 99, although we don’t know for sure. But we do know that the bill itself was much more than that. The fact is, the bill’s
intention was to mandate that issues like contraception and the
prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases be included in
sex-education classes for children before the sixth grade, and as early
as kindergarten. Obama’s defenders may howl, but the bill is what it is.
What was in the bill? The details can be found at the link, but here's the salient point.
* In the Illinois State Legislature, Barack Obama voted for legislation to alter Illinois' Sex Education standards to include instruction in any grade from Kindergarten through 12th grade. The legislation passed Barack Obama's Illinois Senate Health and Human Services Committee that he chaired. As the Chicago Daily Herald stated, "the legislation included a provision to allow students from kindergarten through fifth grade to be added to the middle and high school students receiving sex education."
Mr. Obama's campaign has howled at the "lies" in this ad, and Ms. Behar repeated those talking points. Perhaps if she finds the time she can ask Mr. Obama about these lies. In the interest of being perceived as "fair and balanced," you know.
First of all, tying Sen. McCain – especially on the issue of immigration reform – to Limbaugh is unfair.
Limbaugh opposed McCain on that issue. Vociferously. And in a larger sense, it’s unfair to link McCain to Limbaugh on a host of issues since Limbaugh, as any even occasional listener of his knows, doesn’t particularly care for McCain.
Second, the quotes of Limbaugh’s are out of context.
Jake Tapper of ABC - who seems more even-handed than I would have guessed in holding both campaign's feet to the fire when they err - details the quotes from Limbaugh and their misuse. Ms. Behar made a national spectacle of Obama campaign talking points, beclowning herself even more in the process. I'm fairly certain she's bought the campaign's Dowdification of Limbaugh hook, line and sinker as well.
Exit question: Most of the commentators that have accused McCain's ad of lying about this Illinois bill have used Senator Obama's denial itself as the refutation, as the NY Times does here. I assume that Mr. McCain will be allowed to have his word as the final say in controversies regarding his positions, no?
