There has been a lot of talk about fact checking the statements of politicians lately. Reading the articles, it is very difficult to tell who is telling the truth. And that is the problem.
From an article at TheAtlantic.com;
But what if it turns out that when the press calls a lie a lie, nobody cares?
Here in Tampa, the new assertiveness is getting its first test on a big stage, and so far the results are not encouraging. As Ben Smith of BuzzFeed has pointed out, the Romney campaign is simply swatting aside the media's objections to its welfare ad: "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers," said Neil Newhouse, a Romney pollster.
Links to two articles about fact checking are presented below. The first article from NPR is one of many calling out a pattern of deception in Ryan's convention speech. The second article is a foaming at the mouth response from BreitBart.com. If you lie loud enough and long enough, people can no longer distinguish between reality and deception.
So reality is relative. Let's look at one scenario. Regarding the GM plant closing in Janesville, WI
This is what Ryan said:
President Barack Obama, came to office during an economic
crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those are very
tough days. And any fair measure of his record has to take that
into account. My own state voted for President Obama. When he
talked about change, many people liked the sound of it.
Especially in Janesville where we were about to lose a major
factory. A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at
that G.M. plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama
said, ``I believe that if our government is there to support you,
this plant will be here for another 100 years.''
That's what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that
plant didn't last another year. It is locked up and empty to
this day. And that's how it is in so many towns where the
recovery that was promised is no where in sight.
This is what the fact checker said:
— The Wisconsin congressman earned a "false" rating from PolitiFact.com on one statement. He got it for noting that then-candidate Barack Obama told the people of Janesville, Wis. (Ryan's home town) that the GM plant there would be open another 100 years if the government gave it the right support. "That plant didn't last another year," Ryan said, implying that Obama broke a promise. Ryan didn't say that the plant actually closed in 2008, before Obama took office.
Update at 11:45 a.m. ET: 93 Percent Of SUV Plant's Workers Were Let Go In December 2008.
The Associated Press reported on April 19, 2009, that "GM spokesman Christopher Lee confirmed operations at the southern Wisconsin plant will cease Thursday. About 1,200 employees were let go just before Christmas when GM ended SUV production at the plant. Some 100 workers were retained to finish an order of small- to medium-duty trucks for Isuzu Motors. Lee said most of those workers will be laid off Thursday. He said others will be kept on to help with the plant's shutdown." (Note: we messed up earlier and mistakenly put "2009" in the subhead above.)
This is what the BrietBart columnist said:
Hilariously, even though Paul Ryan never blamed Obama for closing a GM plant in his hometown or said the closing occurred during the Obama administration, the fact-checkers said he did and that Ryan was a liar for saying so. What's even more hilarious is that the GM plant did close down months after Obama took office. Keep in mind here, I'm not talking about left-wing sites. I'm talking about CNN, PolitiFact, The Washington Post…
It is all on the table. Decide for yourself who describing reality and who is distorting it.
We are moving closer and closer to a world defined as perceptual reality, or in the words of Robert Anton Wilson, "reality is what you can get away with". As demonstrated in the last few days, the republicans have determined they can pretty much lie with impunity because even if the facts are checked because, 1) a large portion of the audience will never hear about it and 2) a large portion of the audience that does hear about it won't believe the fact checking.
I don't think the democrats are particularly pure in this matter either. Both sides are far too loose with the facts, however the republicans are showing a propensity for taking it to the next level.
What kind of world do we live in when truth is no longer relevant.
These are very dangerous times.
Here is the NPR Article: Fact Checker's Say Some of Ryan's Claims Don't Add Up
Here is the Breitbart Article: The Era of Media Fact Checkers Intimidating Republicans Is Over