DISGUSTING POLITICAL ADS: AN ANTIDOTE

Already getting sick of disgusting and negative political ads? Today's post will provide you with an antidote for this wicked poison!

As of today's writing, neither major Presidential candidate has been officially endorsed by his political party. Even so, both have already spent millions of dollars on TV and radio ads. These ads often misrepresent their own or their opponent's record or position. There are lots of disgustingly negative insinuations and lies being presented and not much solid fact. How, then, can one make an intelligent choice and voting decision based on honest FACT? It may interest you to know there is in existence a truly fact-driven, fully non-partisan site you can use as a reliable reference: http://www.factcheck.org/. This is a consumer advocacy site dedicated to truth in political advertising and is funded by the Annenberg Foundation. The Annenbergs were the founders of TV Guide, and they have traditionally been California Republicans. But you will not find an iota of Republican or Democratic bias or spin at this fabulous site. Instead, it dispels rumors, distortions, misstatements, and insinuations, and does so with solid factual background information. If we seek truth and clarity in our political information, as each of us SHOULD, this site will prove to be an invaluable tool for us all!

It is interesting and perhaps revealing to note that, in this past month of July, the McCain Campaign Committee, 527 Political Action Committees (PACs) supporting McCain, and the Republican National Committee (RNC) were cited for false, distorted, exaggerated, or misleading anti-Obama ads a whopping 11 times! However, the Obama camp haven't been pure angels, either. The Obama Campaign and 527 PACs supporting Obama were cited 4 times. Of these, only 3 misrepresented McCain (2 by the AFL-CIO and 1 by Planned Parenthood), and not by the Obama Campaign itself. We saw what the 2004 Bush Campaign, shady 527 PACs like the "Swift Boat Veterans" (aka LIARS), and the RNC did to Bush's opponent last time around. It would appear the same types of forces are active again in this election, in varying degrees in both political parties. This strongly suggests we should all ignore blatant political ads altogether and should, instead, visit www.factcheck.org/ at least once each week from now through the November elections. Doing so will prevent us from being misled or from becoming low information voters. History has proven that when it comes to political decision-making, garbage in = garbage out, the net result being garbage elected. With 76% of the country correctly believing that we are on the wrong track, we cannot afford another inept, overly-political administration like we have suffered with the last time around. That is why we MUST base our voting decisions this election on FACT rather than partisan spin or slick, misleading Hollywood production. That is why I strongly urge you to visit www.factcheck.org/ VERY frequently, and to PASS THIS INFORMATION ALONG TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!