http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/ en-us Copyright 2008 Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:40:24 -0500 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.2 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Diplomatic reporter Glenn Kessler joined me for a live fact check of Thursday night's Republican debate on Fox News from Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. We were backed up by researcher Alice Crites and editor Tim Curran. This was our second live fact check. We inaugurated this new feature with the back-to-back Republican and Democratic debates from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., last Saturday. You can read the Saint Anselm transcript here. Since this was a live fact check, we did not issue any definitive rulings. Our aim was more modest--to flag questionable statements and contribute to a more informed discussion. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/live_debate_fact_check_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/01/live_debate_fact_check_1.html Live Fact Check Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:40:24 -0500 Mike Huckabee in Greenville, SC, Dec. 8, 2007". "In Arkansas, Governor Huckabee supported broadening a particular merit scholarship -- not in-state tuition - to include high-achieving children who were applying for citizenship...The proposal to make children of illegal immigrants eligible for in-state tuition was not part of the Governor's plan." --Huckabee press release, www.mikehuckabee.com, December 15, 2007. Now that he has become a front-runner, Mike Huckabee is feeling the heat from other Republican candidates who are scrutinizing his record as governor of Arkansas for evidence of "liberal" or "Democratic" inclinations. One leading rival, Fred Thompson, has accused Huckabee of having "championed" an effort to permit illegal immigrants to benefit from in-state tuition rates at state universities. Huckabee has denied the charge, claiming that his support was limited to a much more restrictive scholarship program. Huckabee's denials fly in the face of the record. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/pinocchios_for_huckabee_on_ill.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/pinocchios_for_huckabee_on_ill.html Candidate Watch Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:00:00 -0500 Campaigning in Lexington, SC, Dec. 4, 2007. "Saddam was in the process of defeating the United Nations...thumbing his nose at everybody and leading them to believe that he had weapons of mass destruction and you can't do anything about it." --Fred Thompson, campaign appearance, Newton, Iowa, October 1, 2007. Fred Thompson is a difficult candidate to fact check. His speaking style is generally soporific and his use of language often vague. It can be difficult to tell whether he is making a mistake, or is simply confused. He has adopted the folksy style perfected by Ronald Reagan, which is more about persuading Americans to feel good about themselves than the marshaling of hard facts and arguments. Some of his speeches are almost "fact-free," a term used by my fellow factcheckers at Factcheck.org to refer to political advertisements so vacuous that there is nothing to check. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/most_revealing_fibs_fred_thomp.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/12/most_revealing_fibs_fred_thomp.html Candidate Watch Wed, 12 Dec 2007 06:00:00 -0500 Clinton joined Giuliani on the streets of New York after 9/11. Republican Debate on Fox News, October 21, 2007: FRED THOMPSON: Mayor Giuliani believes in federal funding for abortion. He believes in sanctuary cities. He's for gun control...He sides with Hillary Clinton on each of those issues just mentioned... CHRIS WALLACE: The point seems to be that on a lot of the social issues, like abortion and gay rights and gun control, that there's not much difference between you and Clinton. Is there? RUDY GIULIANI: You have got to be kidding. (LAUGHTER) So who is kidding who here? Do Rudy and Hillary share similar positions on social issues, or don't they? http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/10/rudy_i_am_not_hillary_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/10/rudy_i_am_not_hillary_1.html Candidate Watch Tue, 23 Oct 2007 06:00:00 -0500 "If you look back over our history, it will not take you long to realize that our people have shed more blood for other people's liberty than any other combination of nations in the history of the world." -- Fred Thompson, stump speech in Iowa, September 6, 2007. The Facts A grandiose claim that is hard to justify no matter how you define "other people's liberty." Let's begin by looking at American casualties in foreign wars. (Domestic conflicts such as the Revolutionary War and the Civil War are excluded.) ConflictAmerican Deaths Spanish American War2,446 World War I116,516 World War II405,399 Korean War36,574 Vietnam58,209 Persian Gulf War382 Iraq War and Afghanistan (until 9/18/2007)4,217 TOTAL623,288 SOURCES: Congressional Research Service, DoD, DoD Historical table While heavy, U.S. military casualties are still relatively low in comparison to the military casualties of its World War II and World War I allies. In World War http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/09/thompsons_wars.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2007/09/thompsons_wars.html Candidate Watch Wed, 19 Sep 2007 06:30:57 -0500