http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/ 15 en-us Copyright 2008 Thu, 15 May 2008 12:18:04 -0400 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.36 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Kennebunkport, MA, July 6, 2002. "I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the Commander-in-Chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be as -- to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal... I remember when [Sergio Vieira] de Mello, who was at the U.N., got killed in Baghdad as a result of these murderers taking this good man's life. And I was playing golf -- I think I was in central Texas -- and they pulled me off the golf course and I said, 'it's just not worth it any more to do.'" --George Bush, interview with Politico, The president is taking a lot of heat for his claim, in an interview with Politico, that he gave up golf "in solidarity" with the http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/golfgate.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/golfgate.html Gov Watch Thu, 15 May 2008 12:18:04 -0400 A Palestinian shepherd and Israeli settlements "Israel is a critical American ally and a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, not a 'constant sore' as Barack Obama claims. Obama's latest remark, and his commitment to 'opening a dialogue' with sponsors of terrorism, echoes past statements by Jimmy Carter who once called Israel an 'apartheid state.' It's another sign that Obama is part of the broken Washington Americans are rejecting." --House Republican leader John Boehner, press release, May 12, 2008 Did Barack Obama call Israel a "constant sore," as Republican leaders are claiming? Both House Republican leader John Boehner and Deputy Minority Whip Eric Cantor have taken the Democratic frontrunner to task for allegedly saying that Israel was a "constant wound" in U.S. foreign policy. The right-wing blogosphere is lending its voice to the chorus. But a fair-minded reading of Obama's remarks shows that his comment has been taken http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/did_he_really_say_that.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/did_he_really_say_that.html Candidate Watch Tue, 13 May 2008 11:28:09 -0400 The most unpopular president? "Get your facts right -- there are at least three president who had worse approval ratings [than George W. Bush]: Truman, Johnson and Nixon." --Karl Rove on-line Washingtonpost.com chat , May 7, 2008 In a post last week, I faulted Karl Rove for slapping down a Washingtonpost.com reader who claimed that his old boss George W. Bush is the "most unpopular" president in U.S. history. The reader was citing a Gallup poll showing that Bush's disapproval rating reached an all-time high of 69 percent in April, the highest figure ever recorded for a president. He was followed by Truman at 67 percent and Nixon at 66 percent. I have now received a more detailed explanation from Rove for his interpretation of the Gallup poll, which I am posting in slightly abbreviated form, along with the comments of two leading pollsters. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/bushs_brain_on_bushs_heart.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/bushs_brain_on_bushs_heart.html Web Watch Mon, 12 May 2008 12:24:50 -0400 Rosie O'Donnell "The government did give syphilis to black Americans for 40 years. What [Rev. Jeremiah Wright] was saying is in his history, in his genetic memory, he knows what it's like for the government to infect his own people. Because he lived through those Tuskegee experiments." --Rosie O'Donnell, May 5, NBC Today Show. Some myths are practically impossible to eradicate, particularly when they are repeated by trusted public figures. Long before the Rev. Jeremiah Wright talked about the U.S. government using the AIDS virus as a means of genocide against African-Americans, prominent commentators made equally fallacious assertions about the Tuskegee syphilis study. The list of people claiming that the government deliberately infected African-Americans with syphilis includes Wright, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings--and now Rosie O'Donnell. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/the_tuskegee_experiment_part_i.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/the_tuskegee_experiment_part_i.html MSM Watch Fri, 09 May 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Karl Rove and friend. Columbus, Ohio: You boldly predicted that Bush's approval ratings would rebound -- instead he is, according to Gallup, the most unpopular president in history. Will you finally admit that your vision for this nation has been overwhelmingly rejected by the majority of the people? Karl Rove: Get your facts right -- there are at least three president who had worse approval ratings, Truman, Johnson and Nixon. I'm absolutely positive history will be kind to this president, who made the right decisions in a difficult time for this nation. --Karl Rove online washingtonpost.com chat, May 7, 2008 Karl Rove, the much-acclaimed "architect" of George W. Bush's 2000 and 2004 election victories, claimed that a Washington Post reader got his facts wrong during an online discussion Wednesday. But the Gallup organization does indeed report that Bush's disapproval rating reached an all-time high of 69 percent in April, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/how_unpopular_is_george_bush.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/how_unpopular_is_george_bush.html Web Watch Thu, 08 May 2008 11:55:00 -0400 Clinton rally, Indianapolis, Ind., May 6, 2008. "Tonight we've come from behind, we've broken the tie, and thanks to you it's full speed on to the White House." --Hillary Clinton, May 6, 2008. Brave, defiant words from Hillary Clinton. But observe the facial expressions. For many people watching television on Tuesday night, the most striking impression from the Clinton victory rally in Indiana was not the words that came out of Hillary's mouth, but the look on Bill's face. It was the look of a man who knows that a dream is slipping away. The Facts Try this experiment. Take a look at this extract from Clinton's speech in Indianapolis with the volume turned down. Watch the expressions on the faces of Hillary, Bill and Chelsea, and let me know what you think. Here is what I saw. A candidate with a mask of upbeat determination on her face, http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/a_geppetto_for_bill_clinton.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/a_geppetto_for_bill_clinton.html Candidate Watch Wed, 07 May 2008 10:30:00 -0400 The gasoline wars between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have been heating up to coincide with the Indiana and North Carolina primaries. The airwaves are full of charges and counter-charges over Clinton's plan for a three month gas holiday between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Obama says the idea is simply an election day "gimmick"; Clinton claims her plan will save hard-working American families $8 billion a year. An examination of the fine print in the latest round of TV ads shows that both sides have been stretching the facts. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/gas_tax_wars.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/gas_tax_wars.html Candidate Watch Tue, 06 May 2008 06:00:00 -0400 National Press Club, April 28, 2008. "The government lied about the Tuskegee experiment. They purposely infected African American men with syphilis. Governments lie. ...The government lied about inventing the HIV virus as a means of genocide against people of color. Governments lie." --Jeremiah Wright sermon, April 13, 2003. The Rev. Jeremiah Wright has been claiming that the U.S. government invented the HIV virus as "a means of genocide" against African-Americans for at least five years. He also argues that the U.S. government "purposely infected" African-American men with syphilis as part of a health study conducted at Tuskegee University between 1932 and 1972. So why did it come as such a shock to Barack Obama when his former pastor repeated the charges, in slightly less strong language, in an appearance in the National Press Club on April 28? http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/wrights_wild_charges.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/wrights_wild_charges.html Video Watch Mon, 05 May 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone, 1936. "John Sidney McCain, III, is a `natural born Citizen' under Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States." --U.S. Senate Resolution, April 30, 2008. On Wednesday evening, the U.S. Senate unanimously declared John S. McCain III a "natural-born citizen," eligible to be president of the United States. That was the good news for the presumptive Republican nominee, who was born nearly 72 years ago in a military hospital in the Panama Canal Zone. The bad news is that the Senate resolution is a non-binding opinion that fails to resolve one of the murkiest, untested areas of the U.S. constitution. In an attempt to clarify the issues at stake, I am posting the key documents in the debate. For a more detailed look at the constitutional debate, see my story in today's print edition of the Post, available here. As a http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/citizen_mccain.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/citizen_mccain.html Candidate Watch Fri, 02 May 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Has Hamas endorsed Obama? "It's just a fact that Hamas, apparently their North American spokesperson, is endorsing Senator Obama. People can make their own judgment from that." --Sen. John McCain, conference call with bloggers, April 25, 2008. "What Senator McCain has said repeatedly is that these candidates cannot be held accountable for all the views of people who endorse them or people who befriend them...When somebody endorses you or befriends you, they're embracing your views, the candidates' views, not the other way around." --McCain senior adviser Charlie Black, interview with MSNBC. March 14, 2008. The McCain campaign has been making a lot of Sen. Barack Obama's friends and acquaintances recently, seeking to tar the Illinois senator with the opinions of his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, the former Weather Underground member Bill Ayers, and even the radical Islamic group Hamas. The guilt-by-association claims seem to run counter to McCain's own http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/guilt_by_association.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/05/guilt_by_association.html Candidate Watch Thu, 01 May 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Gas prices hit $4 a gallon. "Barack Obama's argument that immediately reducing gas prices won't help American commuters is shockingly naive and out of touch...Gas tax relief worked when Barack Obama voted for it in the Illinois legislature, and it would work nationally now." --Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant, April 28, 2008. Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton have called for a "gas tax holiday" this summer to offer commuters and vacationers some release from spiraling gas prices. They have urged Congress to suspend the 18.4 cent federal gas tax and 24.4 cent diesel tax between Memorial Day and Labor Day, a step that could cost the government about $10 billion in revenues. The only major candidate to oppose the idea is Barack Obama, who voted for a similar measure in Illinois eight years ago. Obama now says that consumers will derive little benefit from the tax moratorium. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/a_holiday_from_gas_prices.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/a_holiday_from_gas_prices.html Candidate Watch Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Elton John fundraiser, April 9, 2008. "Peter Daou, Hillary Clinton's internet director, confirms that, by midnight last night, the campaign had received more than $10 million in web-based contributions [since the Pennsylvania primary]. Not pledges. Not promises. But $10 million transferred directly from the credit and debit cards of about 100,000 donors. --Mark Ambinder blog, April 23, 2008. A spat has broken out in the blogosphere over whether the Clinton campaign's claims to have raised $10 million since Tuesday are inflated. Without direct access to the Clinton fund-raising spreadsheets, it is impossible to adjudicate this dispute. But what about past claims, such as the $4 million allegedly raised by the campaign the day after Super Tuesday? http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/tracking_the_fundraisers.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/tracking_the_fundraisers.html Candidate Watch Fri, 25 Apr 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Philadelphia, Pa., April 23, 2008. "The Tide is Turning. After last night's decisive victory in Pennsylvania, more people have voted for Hillary than any other candidate, including Sen. Obama." --Clinton website, "The Fact Hub", April 23, 2008. Hillary Clinton got a much-needed electoral boost from the voters of Pennsylvania on Tuesday night, when she trounced Barack Obama by nearly 210,000 votes, according to the official results. It was a very clear victory, but it is a big stretch for her to claim that she is ahead in the popular vote. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/is_clinton_winning_the_popular.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/is_clinton_winning_the_popular.html Candidate Watch Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:00:00 -0400 State College, Pa., April 20, 2008. "I went to law school [and] borrowed money from the federal government at two percent interest. I bet there are some people here who remember that. There was a program called the National Defense Education Act. Our government invested in young people." --Hillary Clinton, Pennsylvania State University, April 20, 2008. Hillary Clinton has been painting a halcyon picture of her days as a Yale Law School student between 1969 and 1972, and how easy it was back then for students to borrow money from the federal government. She drew a collective groan from 1,500 Penn State students over the weekend when she recalled how she was able to borrow money at two percent interest to complete her law school studies. But student interest rates were not quite as low in 1969 as Clinton has claimed--and not everybody could get them. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/hillarys_two_percent_college_l.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/hillarys_two_percent_college_l.html Candidate Watch Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:00:00 -0400 Montgomery County Community College, Pa., April 21, 2008. "We've seen just a skyrocketing autism rate. Some people are suspicious that it's connected to the vaccines. This person included. The science right now is inconclusive, but we have to research it." --Barack Obama, Pennsylvania Rally, April 21, 2008. "It's indisputable that (autism) is on the rise among children, the question is what's causing it. And we go back and forth and there's strong evidence that indicates it's got to do with a preservative in vaccines." --John McCain, Texas town hall meeting, February 29, 2008. SEE UPDATE BELOW Two leading presidential candidates have now wandered into an exceptionally emotional medical debate in which they have no known scientific expertise. Several advocacy groups and families of children with autism are embroiled in a long-running court case seeking billions of dollars in damages because of alleged links between autism and vaccines given to http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/dr_obama_and_dr_mccain.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/04/dr_obama_and_dr_mccain.html Candidate Watch Tue, 22 Apr 2008 06:00:00 -0400