Political accountability has always been an issue. The amount of misinformation that transpires in a 10 minute chunk of cable news alone is overwhelming, and in today's media environment most of these falsehoods remain unchallenged.
Because of this, the initial prospect of PolitiFact.com, an online news project founded by the Tampa Bay Times, was quite exciting. PolitiFact takes statements from politicians and political commentators and rates their accuracy on a scale called the "Truth-o-Meter." Unfortunately, PolitiFact has all but lost its credibility amidst a slew of obscene judgments and a desperate desire to appear "objective."
Here's an example: Each year, PolitiFact selects a "Lie of the Year," signifying the most egregious factual error in the political discourse from that twelve-month period. In 2009, the LOTY was Fmr. Gov. Sarah Palin's claim that President Obama's health care law included provisions for "death panels" to be set-up to kill sick elderly people. In 2011, PolitiFact's LOTY was the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's assessment of Rep. Paul Ryan's health care reform as a plan to "end Medicare."
PolitiFact drew intense criticism for the latter decision, and justifiably so. Palin's claim about death panels was an objective fabrication, the crowning jewel of the GOP's defamation of Obama's health care reforms, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care act. The Democrat's claim that Rep. Ryan's plan ends Medicare, however, is a fact.
Under the Ryan plan, Medicare as we know it would be replaced with an opt-out program providing a paltry yearly voucher. Ryan can call his plan whatever he likes, but there is absolutely no inaccuracy in the claim that the Ryan plan would destroy the current version of Medicare and replace it with a radically different program.
Their flimsy defense of Rep. Ryan should come as no surprise. For years, PolitiFact has tried to draw an equivalency between both sides of the political spectrum by portraying them both as equally dishonest. Checking through PolitiFact's database, you'll notice that most of the individuals profiled have a fairly even distribution of statements across the various levels of their "Truth-o-Meter," which ranges from "True" to "Pants on Fire." With only a few exceptions, PolitiFact's conclusion appears to be that members from both parties are equally wrong.
This notion is purely dishonest. Throughout President Barack Obama's administration, Republicans have called him a secret Kenyan, a Marxist, a Socialist and some kind of combination Atheist/Muslim. Republicans have continued to spread the thoroughly disproven myth that tax cuts for the wealthy make everyone wealthy, that global warming is not scientifically sound and that homosexuality is a choice. The reason you cannot draw an equivalency between those positions, many of which are now central to the Republican creed, and those of the Democrats is because nothing on the left compares with the level of intellectual pollution on the right.
Sure, PolitiFact can assert that Sen. Bernie Sanders is factually incorrect when he says Exxon Mobil pays no taxes, but someone can be incorrect about details and correct on the general argument, simultaneously. Sanders may be wrong when he says that Exxon Mobil pays no taxes, but his general argument, that major corporations are paying very low taxes, is right. By cherry picking these random quotations from representatives of both sides and acting as if the errors on the left and right are comparable, PolitiFact blurs the distinctions between the arguments of both sides as well. And every time the GOP can be appear equally disgusting as their opponents, it wins. Republicans survive and thrive by making voters believe the contest between both sides is a draw. When that image is communicated, candidates with ridiculous, hateful and idiotic right-wing agendas have easier paths to victory. The truth will not be found in today's political climate by simply averaging the two parties together.
And what, exactly, is the journalistic appeal of the type of equivalency PolitiFact means to draw? By pretending that political evil is evenly distributed between both sides, PolitiFact has become a tool of the two-party system, rather than a guiding light to navigate their readers through it. Perhaps PolitiFact believes this kind of diplomatic, fake objectivity is part of reporting.
Well, whatever they're reporting, it's clearly not the facts.
Ryan Waal is a sophomore majoring in English. Tweet your feedback to @dailycardinal.
