Recently, Senator Jon Kyl famously claimed on C-SPAN "well over 90 percent of what Planned Parenthood does," is provide abortion services.
Actually it's 3%. None of it funded by taxpayers.
Confronted by actual fact checkers, his office had a remarkable walk-back, one even CNN anchor TJ Holmes had a hard time delivering with a straight face to his audience:
We did call his office trying to ask what he was talking about there. And I just want to give it you verbatim here. It says, ‘his remark was not intended to be a factual statement."
Yesterday on the Senate floor, Senator Gillibrand used this as an opening to deliver a scathing dressing down on the GOP's attempts to "use women as pawns" and to "balance the budget on the backs of women." Via New York Observer:
"For my friends and colleagues, this is a factual statement — current law already prevents federal money from paying for abortions," she said, referring to the Hyde Amendment, the perpetual rider that's been in place since 1976. "This has been the law of the land for over 30 years."
She goes on to list myriad of ways women are victimized and marginalized by the current system. And yes, they're all
"factual statements" made to set the Senate record straight.
One of the things I recognized early about Senator Gillibrand, whether zinging Republicans or Harold Ford, she isn't afraid to employ a little of that True New York grit we Empire Staters have long appreciated in our leaders. I knew she'd be OK, even when others had their doubts.
I've said it many times, keep doing what you're doing, Senator Gillibrand.
Updated by Clarknt67 at Thu Apr 14, 2011 at 02:41 PM EDT
Oops, I see my buddy JP beat me by a few minutes. Do as you will.
Updated by Clarknt67 at Thu Apr 14, 2011 at 02:59 PM EDT
Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is also having a good time at Kyl's expense, using the #ISIntendedToBeAFactualStatement hashtag on Twitter.
This strikes me as a good way to use Social Media, and just general messaging to highlight the many ways that GOP lies and misleads on a number of issues. Just preface every Democratic statement with "Is Intended To Be A Factual Statement." See if the GOP is able to follow suit (we know they aren't).