As I've said before, while I love fact-checking to the point where some may call me obsessive about it, even I will admit that sometimes fact-checkers go too far. I brought this up a couple weeks ago when Republican New Jersey Governor was fact-checked for saying his favorite cartoon at four years of age was Scooby-Doo. Since that cartoon wasn't around when he was four, the fact-checker made it known to the world that this couldn't be true. That resulted in a facepalm on my part. I can't even remember what my favorite shows were when I was ten years old, let alone four. Give the guy a break. It's not like he was trying to woo the vote of a 4-year old kid, or if he runs for the presidency, the undecideds will potentially break the other way due to Scoobygate.
That brings me to another such scenario, and actually, this one may be worse than Scoobygate, if you can believe that. At least with Scoobygate, the fact-checker contended that Christie could get a "pass" on the slip-up due to possibly forgetting what his favorite show was at a specific age. In this more recent case, fact-checker Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post felt the need to fact-check President Obama's recent claim that he referred to Benghazi as an "act of terrorism" immediately following the attacks.
In the day or two following the attacks, the president put forth these very quotes:
"No acts of terror will ever shake the resolves of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for."
"We want to send a message all around the world - anybody who would do us harm: No act of terror will dim the light of the values that we proudly shine on the rest of the world, and no act of violence will shake the resolve of the United States of America."
"I want people around the world to hear me. To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished. It will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. No act of violence shakes the resolve of the United States of America."
So, the president referred to Benghazi as an "act of terror" on multiple occasions in the days following the attacks, three letters short of calling them acts of "terror-ism."
How did Mr. Kessler grade Obama's claim that he referred to Benghazi as an act of "terrorism"? Four out of four Pinnochio's, meaning it was so misleading, Pinnochio's nose would extend from here (Ohio) to Russia if he told such a fib. That's right, a difference of three letters provides four Pinnochio's.
I have to say that this "fact-check" by Mr. Kessler resulted in four giant faceplams from me (out of four).
Let's look at the definitions of these two words:
Terrorism is defined as "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political reasons."
Terror is defined as "violence or threats of violence used for intimidation or coercion; terrorism."
So, here's what President Obama, in essence, claimed he said:
"They were acts of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political reasons."
Here's what he actually said:
"They were acts of violence used for intimidation or coercion; terrorism."
President Obama's claim deserves four Pinnochio's like Mr. Kessler deserves four Pulitzer Prizes for his profound findings. What he really deserves is four facepalms, which he's about to receive right now, courtesy of me.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-claim-he-called-benghazi-an-act-of-terrorism/2013/05/13/7b65b83e-bc14-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_blog.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorism
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terror?s=t
That brings me to another such scenario, and actually, this one may be worse than Scoobygate, if you can believe that. At least with Scoobygate, the fact-checker contended that Christie could get a "pass" on the slip-up due to possibly forgetting what his favorite show was at a specific age. In this more recent case, fact-checker Glenn Kessler of The Washington Post felt the need to fact-check President Obama's recent claim that he referred to Benghazi as an "act of terrorism" immediately following the attacks.
In the day or two following the attacks, the president put forth these very quotes:
"No acts of terror will ever shake the resolves of this great nation, alter that character, or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for."
"We want to send a message all around the world - anybody who would do us harm: No act of terror will dim the light of the values that we proudly shine on the rest of the world, and no act of violence will shake the resolve of the United States of America."
"I want people around the world to hear me. To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished. It will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. No act of violence shakes the resolve of the United States of America."
So, the president referred to Benghazi as an "act of terror" on multiple occasions in the days following the attacks, three letters short of calling them acts of "terror-ism."
How did Mr. Kessler grade Obama's claim that he referred to Benghazi as an act of "terrorism"? Four out of four Pinnochio's, meaning it was so misleading, Pinnochio's nose would extend from here (Ohio) to Russia if he told such a fib. That's right, a difference of three letters provides four Pinnochio's.
I have to say that this "fact-check" by Mr. Kessler resulted in four giant faceplams from me (out of four).
Let's look at the definitions of these two words:
Terrorism is defined as "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political reasons."
Terror is defined as "violence or threats of violence used for intimidation or coercion; terrorism."
So, here's what President Obama, in essence, claimed he said:
"They were acts of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political reasons."
Here's what he actually said:
"They were acts of violence used for intimidation or coercion; terrorism."
President Obama's claim deserves four Pinnochio's like Mr. Kessler deserves four Pulitzer Prizes for his profound findings. What he really deserves is four facepalms, which he's about to receive right now, courtesy of me.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/obamas-claim-he-called-benghazi-an-act-of-terrorism/2013/05/13/7b65b83e-bc14-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_blog.html
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorism
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terror?s=t
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