Lies and Lying Liars
From dKosopedia
The title of this page comes from the Senator Al Franken book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. We don't have room for all of the Republican lies since Richard Nixon said, "I am not a crook," but here are some of the best. One problem that we always have with most Republicans is determining whether they are stupid enough or crazy enough to believe what they are saying, or smart enough to know that they are lying, and just dishonest.
Fundamentally there are only a few big lies here. Everything else follows from just these.
- We're doing it for you, not for rich people. (greed)
- It's a matter of principle, not racism, gay-bashing, or blind vengeance. (hate)
- This is a Christian country. (delusion)
See also Code Words for speech that means something other than what it says, MemeTank for framing phrases, and The Truth!! for Republicans actually saying something true.
Lies
Health Care
- We're opting out now, before the bill even exists.—State Sen. Mary Pilcher Cook and Reps. Brenda Landwehr and Peggy Mast of Kansas (Diaried on dKOS, 2009-10-27)
- "We know that the bill written behind closed doors here in the Capitol will be another 1,000-page, trillion-dollar Washington takeover," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. "No quiet fadeaway for federal insurance option", By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar (AP) 2009-10-14
- [A] public option to compete with private insurance plans has been "profoundly rejected by the American people."—Rep. Eric Cantor R-VA, House Minority Whip, 10/7/2009
- Reconciliation has never been used on a major tax bill. We shouldn't do that for Health Care.—Sen. James Inhofe R-OK Except for the $1.3 trillion Bush tax cut for the rich, of course, but that doesn't count. And the second, $350 billion, Bush tax cut...; Sen.Ben Nelson BD-NE, was the 50th vote for the second Bush tax cut under reconciliation. It then passed on a Dick Cheney tiebreak vote. But Ben Nelson says he wouldn't vote for Health Care under reconciliation, and Ben Nelson is an Honorable Gentleman. Er, politician. Um, never mind.
- Sex clinics in schools—Michelle Bachmann
- Deathers—Sarah Palin, Sen. Chuck Grassley; Rep. Virginia Foxx
- Free for illegal immigrants—Rep. Joe Wilson
- Government-funded abortions—Family Research Council, Sen. Orrin Hatch
- Government-funded sex change operations
- Cutting Medicare—Sen. John Cornyn
- US currently has world's best health care—Glenn Beck; Sen. John Cornyn
- Can't keep your insurance—Sen. John Cornyn
- No crisis—Bill Kristol, Sen. Bob Dole, both in reference to the Clinton Health Care plan; "I don't think we need a comprehensive overhaul of our health care system."—RNC Chair Michael Steele in an interview on Univision, 2009-10-19
- We can't afford it—Rep. John Duncan; Sen. Joe Lieberman, called out on Daily Kos, 2009-10-27
Denial of Global Warming
Prominent Global Warming deniers in US politics, including Right-wing groupthink tanks, include
- Pres. George W. Bush, who has changed his mind on the issue
- Vice Pres. Dick Cheney and his Energy Task Force (Officially the National Energy Policy Development Group)
- The White House Council on Environmental Quality
- Sen. James Inhofe who is going to the Copenhagen Climate Summit with a "Truth Squad"
- Republican strategist Frank Luntz
- The George C. Marshall Institute
- The American Enterprise Institute
- Rep. Daryl Metcalfe R-PA "As a veteran, I believe that any veteran lending their name, to promote the leftist propaganda of global warming and climate change, in an effort to control more of the wealth created in our economy, through cap and tax type policies, all in the name of national security, is a traitor to the oath he or she took to defend the Constitution of our great nation!...Drill, baby, drill!"—called out on Daily Kos 2009-10-22.
Gay Marriage
Gay Marriage has its own page.
If Question 1 fails, 'homosexual marriage' will be taught to children in our classrooms!!!—Yes on 1 campaign ads (...everything to do with schools, and ...keep homosexual marriage from being pushed on Maine students!) for repealing gay marriage in Maine. Refuted by Maine Attorney General, 2009-10-16. Thanks to Daily Kos.
Never Executed an Innocent Person
Gov. Rick Perry: Cameron Todd Willingham "Was A Monster" Gov. Rick Perry: Cameron Todd Willingham "Was A Monster" The Huffington Post | Lila Shapiro First Posted: 10-14-09 07:39 PM
Texas Governor Rick Perry insisted again on Wednesday that the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham was appropriate and that Texas did not, contrary to growing opinion, execute an innocent man.
Trial by Fire Did Texas execute an innocent man? by David Grann
In 2000, while George W. Bush was governor of Texas, he said, “I know there are some in the country who don’t care for the death penalty, but . . . we’ve adequately answered innocence or guilt.” His top policy adviser on issues of criminal justice emphasized that there is “super due process to make sure that no innocent defendants are executed.”
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in 2006, voted with a majority to uphold the death penalty in a Kansas case. In his opinion, Scalia declared that, in the modern judicial system, there has not been “a single case—not one—in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an event had occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for it; the innocent’s name would be shouted from the rooftops.”
Since 1976, more than a hundred and thirty people on death row have been exonerated.
In a scathing report, [noted fire scientist Craig Beyler] concluded that investigators in the Willingham case had no scientific basis for claiming that the fire was arson, ignored evidence that contradicted their theory, had no comprehension of flashover and fire dynamics, relied on discredited folklore, and failed to eliminate potential accidental or alternative causes of the fire. He said that Vasquez’s approach seemed to deny “rational reasoning” and was more “characteristic of mystics or psychics.”
There is a chance, however, that Texas could become the first state to acknowledge officially that, since the advent of the modern judicial system, it had carried out the “execution of a legally and factually innocent person.”
We're Not Racists
No, we're still the party of Lincoln. We're for States' Rights on principle! We oppose Obama on principle! Those posters were just jokes!
Rich vs. Poor
"Despite the stereotype that we are the party of the rich, the vast majority of our donations are from small donations; as opposed to the Democratic National Committee that gets its donations from big labor and the Hollywood elites."—GOP.com Webmaster,2009-10-13
Birthers
- Obama's Certification of Live Birth Hawaiian birth certificate isn't a birth certificate.
- He doesn't have a birth certificate.
- Yes, he does! I have his (forged) birth certificate from Kenya right here!
- Obama is Kenyan, or possibly has dual Kenyan-British nationality. Either way, he isn't the President.
- Obama's mother and others engaged in a conspiracy at the time he was born (in British colonial Kenya) to place birth announcements in Hawaiian newspapers, and get him a fake Hawaiian non-birth-certificate document, as part of a plan for him to run for President as an adult.
Rep. Roy Blunt R-MO, Orly Taitz, Lou Dobbs, Camille Paglia, Alan Keyes, Constitution Party, WorldNetDaily, talk radio hosts Michael Savage, Brian Sussman, Lars Larson, Bob Grant, Jim Quinn, Rose Tennent, Barbara Simpson, and Mark Davis
There are also some on the Right who denounce the Birthers or their theories as "crazy", including Sen. Lindsey Graham R-SC, former Republican Rep. Joe Scarborough, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, and Michael Medved.
Tenthers
Nullification of Federal laws—Gov. Tim Pawlenty; Gov. Rick Perry
Secession
Texas Gov. Rick Perry
Refusing Federal Money
And then taking credit for getting it, while asking for more, but refusing to vote for it. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, Congressional Republicans in general
Iraq
- WMD—Nearly the entire Bush Administration, The Project for the New American Century
- Iraq working with Al Qaeda—Dick Cheney
- Mission Accomplished—George W. Bush
Obama school speech
It's political indoctrination, unlike when Bush and Reagan did it.—Glenn Beck, Andrea Tantaros, Michelle Malkin, Monica Crowley, Tim Pawlenty
Corruption
"We've got to get corruption out of any organization that's taking taxpayers' money."—Sen. Richard Shelby R-AL on supporting defunding of ACORN. He voted against Sen. Al Franken's amendment against the military contracting with KBR for not allowing a gang-raped employee to sue. Similarly for 29 other Republican Senators, most notably Mike Johanns R-NE, Sen. Kit Bond R-MO, Sen. Jeff Sessions R-AL, Sen. Lindsey Graham, Sen. Richard Shelby R-AL.
Healthy Forests Initiative
Clear Skies Initiative
Enhanced interrogation is not torture.
Vice Pres. Dick Cheney, John Yoo, Secy. of State Condoleezza Rice
Support the troops
Trickle-down
The Ownership Society
Compassionate Conservatism
The Education/Environmental President
The Magic of the Market
Family Values
Culture of Life
Pres. George W. Bush
Creationism/"Intelligent Design"
Ann Coulter; Sen. Sam Brownback; Gov. Mike Huckabee; Rep. Tom Tancredo; Sen. Bill Frist; Rep. John Shimkus; Rep. Tom DeLay
Fake Lies
Best in the business—the comedy/satire business, that is. The weird thing is that Colbert is so good at it that some Righties believe that Colbert is one of them.
Lying Liars
Blogs
- The Top 40 Conservative Blogs For 2009 (Version 2.0) from Right Wing News
- Conservatism Today's 24 Best Conservative Blogs from Conservatism Today
Individuals
Here is what you do. Go to Google News on any day, and put in any of these names. For some of them, you can get another lie every day. I would say that you can't make this stuff up, but clearly somebody does. A lot of them, actually.
- Rep. Michelle Bachmann R-MN
- Healthcare rationing for seniors; Death panels; No global warming
- Fox Talking head Glenn Beck
- Called Obama a racist
- Astroturfer Richard Berman
- AKA Dr. Evil, lobbyist and smear consultant, source of UnionFacts.com, RottenAcorn.com, and other sites through more than a dozen interlocking "non-profits". Featured on 60 Minutes, The Colbert Report, The Rachel Maddow Show.
- House Minority Leader John Boehner R-OH
- Health plan to pay for abortions
- Former singer Pat Boone
- Administration officials are "proud, boastful Marxists."
- Racist Pat Buchanan
- Hitler didn't intend to conquer Europe; Affirmative Action a plot against Whites, who were solely responsible for the growth of the US.
- Former President George W. Bush
- WMD; Iraq tried to buy uranium ore from Niger (2002); Mission Accomplished (2003); Al-Qaeda in Iraq before invasion
- House Minority Whip Eric Cantor R-VA
- "Republicans want to be productive on healthcare."
- Former VP Dick Cheney
- Not subject to rules on Administration because he's in the Senate; not subject to Senate rules because he's in the Administration; Torture saved American lives; Iraq, WMD, Al Qaeda
- Sen. Tom Coburn R-OK
- Gays are taking over
- Black "Conservative" Ward Connerly
- Affirmative action discriminates against Whites
- Indescribable Ann Coulter
- "I'm a Christian first, and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative second, and don't you ever forget it."--If Democrats had Any Brains, They'd be Republicans; Creationist
- Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay R-TX
- Astroturfer
- CNN talking head Lou Dobbs
- Birther, immigrant-basher
- Former Sen. Elizabeth Dole
- R-NC Called former Sunday-school teacher Kay Hagan D-NC "Godless" in a campaign ad.
- Sen. Mike Enzi R-WY
- Pretending to negotiate a compromise Health Care bill; Democrats will "increase the deficit, raid Medicare, and limit or deny care to people based on age or disabilities, among other charges."
- Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani
- Deather; "Community organizer. What's that?" "Zero, Zero," the audience replied.
- Former Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales
- Flip-flops on torture; "Can't remember" much about firing attorneys
- Sen. Chuck Grassley R-IA
- Deather pretending to negotiate a compromise bill
- Sen. James Inhofe R-OK
- Climate Change is a hoax
- Sen. Mike Johanns R-NE
- Amendment to cut off funding to ACORN (Passed Senate 83-7)
- Neo-Conservative Bill Kristol
- We must invade Iraq and bomb Iran; We must kill Health Care again
- Sen. Jon Kyl R-AZ
- Democrats proposing massive cuts to Medicare, nothing for malpractice
- Talking head Rush Limbaugh
- Everything
- Consultant Frank Luntz
- The master creator of Code Words
- Columnist Michelle Malkin
- Birther; Deather; no Global Warming
- Sen. John McCain R-AZ
- Obama isn't experienced enough, but Palin is. Told Dave Letterman he couldn't do his show because he had to rush back to DC, but instead went on a different show. ACORN smear.
- Former Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey R-NY
- Deather, helped kill Clinton Health Care bill
- Actor Chuck Norris
- Teabagger
- Talking head Bill O'Reilly
- Everything
- Former Gov. Sarah Palin R-AK
- "Thanks, but no, thanks," for Bridge to Nowhere, Deather
- Gov. Tim Pawlenty R-MN
- Deather; Tenther; Appeasement
- Former President Ronald Reagan
- The Great Prevaricator, the master of racist code; "Socialized Medicine"; "Government is the problem."; Voodoo Reaganomics: Trickle-down economics; "Deficits don't matter."
- Christian Right leader Pat Robertson
- "The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians to keep them from speaking out on certain moral issues. And it all was embodied in something called the Hate Crimes bill..."
- Turd-Blossom Karl Rove
- Bush's Brain: I don't have to testify (about political firings of US attorneys).
- Phyllis Schlafly
- "I submit to you that the feminist movement is the most dangerous, destructive force in our society today....My analysis is that the gays are about 5% of the attack on marriage in this country, and the feminists are about 95%."
- Mike Schwartz, Chief of Staff to Sen. Tom Coburn R-OK
- "Homosexuality is inflicted on people." Values Voter Summit, Sept. 2009; "All pornography is homosexual pornography, because all pornography turns your sexual drive inwards...If you tell an 11-year-old boy about that, do you think he's going to want to go out and get a copy of Playboy? I'm pretty sure he'll lose interest. That's the last thing he wants." Values Voter Summit New Masculinity session, Sept. 2009
- Sen. Jeff Sessions R-AL
- That's the scion of Unreconstructed Southern Aristocracy, the Junior Senator from Alabama, Jefferson (Davis) (General Pierre Gustave Toutant) Beauregard Sessions III
- Black Market Fundamentalist Thomas Sowell
- Economic fairy stories
- RNC Chair Michael Steele
- "I'm not scaring anybody on Health Care. Nobody in Congress is scaring anybody."
- Fox talking head Chris Wallace
- Defends torture
- Former Justice Department lawyer John Yoo
- Torture isn't torture.
Organizations
- Americans For Prosperity Astroturf organization, best known now for applauding Chicago losing its bid for the 2016 Olympics
- American Civil Rights Institute Ward Connerly anti-Affirmative Action groupthink tank
- American Decency Association, Family Values
- American Enterprise Institute, groupthink tank
- American Family Association, Family Values
- Balkan Action Committee, Bill Kristol and PNAC, again
- C Street House, den of iniquity
- Cato Institute, groupthink tank
- Center for Immigration Studies, groupthink tank
- Center for Security Policy, groupthink tank
- Christian Coalition, Family Values
- Christian Voice, Family Values
- Citizens for a Free Kuwait, Bill Kristol and PNAC, again
- Claremont Institute, groupthink tank
- Coalition for a Democratic Majority, Bill Kristol and PNAC, again
- Committee for the Free World, Bill Kristol and PNAC, again
- Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, Bill Kristol and PNAC, again
- Committee for Peace and Security in the Gulf, Bill Kristol and PNAC, again
- Committee on the Present Danger, Bill Kristol, again and again and again
- Concerned Women for America, Family Values
- FAIR (Federation for American Immigration Reform), anti-immigration group, listed as hate group by SPLC
- Family First, Family Values
- Family Research Council, Family Values
- Focus on the Family, Family Values
- Foreign Policy Research Institute, groupthink tank
- Freedom Works, a Dick Armey Astroturfing operation
- Heritage Foundation, groupthink tank
- Hoover Institution, groupthink tank
- How to Take Back America Conference
- Hudson Institute, groupthink tank
- Institute on Religion and Democracy, Bill Kristol and PNAC, again
- Manhattan Institute, groupthink tank
- Middle East Forum, groupthink tank
- National Center for Policy Analysis, groupthink tank
- National Legion of Decency, Family Values
- The Nixon Center, groupthink tank
- Operation Rescue Hate organzation, promoter of domestic terrorism
- Pacific Research Institute, groupthink tank
- Parents Television Council, Family Values
- Prodemca (Friends of the Democratic Center in Central America), Bill Kristol and PNAC, again
- Project for the New American Century, Officially disbanded, but members remain active
- Tea Party Patriots, a partner of Freedom Works
- Traditional Values Coalition, Family Values
- United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting, Family Values
Media
- Investors Business Daily TIPP polls
- Wall Street Journal editorial page (The reporters are OK.)
- Fox News aka Fox Noise, Faux News, etc.
Blogs
Probably not liars
- Racist Pat Buchanan is actually racist and doesn't feel the need to hide it.
- Lyndon LaRouche is unquestionably crazy. Dick Cheney is not the Antichrist. He just plays one on TV.
- Joe Scarborough (Morning Joe, MSNBC) seems to believe that opposition to Obama is not primarily racist. He's just in denial.
See Also
External Links
- Jimmy Carter broke with the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000 over their treatment of women, called Israeli policy toward Palestinions
worse than South African apartheid, and denounced racism against President Obama in Sept. 2009.
- White House Health Insurance Reality Check Web page, as President Obama promised in his Health Care speech to Congress, for calling out lies.
Radio and TV
- Ed Schultz, The Ed Show, Op-Ed, Psycho Talk (MSNBC)
- Keith Olbermann, Countdown, Worst Persons in the World (MSNBC)
- Chris Matthews, Hardball, Hardball Sideshow (MSNBC)
- Rachel Maddow, Rachel Maddow Show, GOP in Exile (MSNBC)
- Steve Inskeep, Morning Edition, NPR, reduced RNC Chair Michael Steele to spluttering incoherence simply by pointing out that he had contradicted himself on Health Care
Internet
- Media Matters for America, a progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.
- Crooks and Liars blog
- AfterDowningstreet.org "...working to expose the lies..."
Other reporters and interviewers have been gradually asking tougher questions, pointing out contradictions, and even calling out lies explicitly ever since the 2006 elections. It's glacially slow, but, hey, the glaciers are speeding up with Global Warming!
And now even some Republicans are calling out some of the liars. Sen. Lindsey Graham, MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, Conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks, Former Bush and McCain adviser Mark McKinnon, former Bush speechwriter Peter Wehner, Charles Johnson of the popular conservative blog Little Green Footballs...
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