Sunday, April 27, 2008

Takin' Names and Checkin' Facts

CQ has joined forces with St. Petersburg Times to create Politifact.com, web site whose mission is "just gimme the truth." They check out claims made in political campaigns and give them ratings like True, Barely True, Mostly True and, my favorite, Pants on Fire.

Put a widget on your site to include an RSS feed from their Truth-O-Meter. That's what's generating the feed in the right-hand column on this page.

Or send them a campaign claim you want them to check out at truthometer@politifact.com

Of course it goes without saying that you have to read the text to find out the basis for their ratings. For example, they rated Joe Biden's comment that the president is "brain dead" as a Pants on Fire statement because:
There’s no evidence Biden performed the necessary medical tests to make such a diagnosis. We would have accepted the results of a cerebral blood flow study or proof that Biden had examined Bush to see if he had an oculocephalic reflex.

Indeed, even people who disagree with the president about Iraq and assorted other issues will acknowledge that the president has spontaneous respiration and is responding to stimuli.



Here are some similar sites: