They Lie, and Then Provide the Evidence

I’ve come across a one-stop shop for proving the falsity of the claims of the Bush campaign: the George Bush re-election website!

Today the Bush campaign released a new ad attacking Kerry. The web page that supposedly provides the “Ad facts” describes the opening of the ad:

Mom Voiceover:

5:30, I need to get groceries…. I’m gonna be late.

Radio Voiceover:

John Kerry and the liberals in Congress have voted to raise gas taxes 10 times.

Mom Voiceover:

10 times… gas prices are high enough already.

After that, they conveniently provide the documentary evidence that their claim that “Kerry… voted to raise gas taxes 10 times” is patently untrue. Of the 10 votes they cite, at least 2 are the result of their double-counting single bills, and 6 more are the result of counting votes against cutting the tax on gas.

Now this may be a subtle point of logic, but I think it’s still a distinction worth maintaining: holding something constant is not the same as raising it. By similar reasoning and for future reference, perhaps we should point out that reducing something is not the same as keeping it constant, and raising something is actually different (in a subtle sort of way) from reducing it.

Sadly, the only surprising thing about this is that the Bush campaign website feels that they can provide the evidence for their lies without even trying to hide it.

Kash

p.s. sorry about the multiple posts earlier; blogger was being bad.