Politifarce again
Honestly, keeping on top of the hacks a "Politifact" could be a full-time job. Maybe the Koch Bros. could hire me at an exorbitant rate to school Politifraud on their own rules.
Today's case in point is a purported fact-check of Ann Coulter.
For the record, I'm not a fan of Coulter. I haven't read any of her books. I think she's a bomb-thrower and probably hurts the conservative cause more often than she helps.
Having said that, this "Truth-O-Meter" ruling of "Pants on Fire" is ridiculous. It's almost as if they want to goose their embarrassing bias numbers the next time Bryan White analyzes their False vs. Pants on Fire ratings.
What's the heavy, policy-laden analytical statement that Politfarce interviewed seven different people to determine it's veracity?
No doctors who went to an American medical school will be accepting Obamacare.
Does that even pass the smell test? I mean, Democrats go to medical school too. Won't those bleeding hearts of the left take Obamacare patients even if it means they'll have to lease a Lexus for three years instead of two?
I refer you once again to Politifarce's so-called "Principles" and the "rules" they apply when choosing statements to check.
In deciding which statements to check, we ask ourselves these questions:
- Is the statement rooted in a fact that is verifiable? We don’t check opinions, and we recognize that in the world of speechmaking and political rhetoric, there is license for hyperbole.
- Would a typical person hear or read the statement and wonder: Is that true?
Because I have at least two brain cells to rub together, I can assure the drooling incompetents at Politifarce that the point Coulter was making through use of hyperbole (maybe you guys should look it up) is that Obamacare will run into the same problem that Medicare has run into (and actually exacerbate it), which is doctors will limit the number of patients they will see on Obamacare because it won't pay enough to cover their costs.
This is one of those rare fact checks that tells us a lot not just about Poltifarce, but also how they view people who actually read Coulter's columns—conservatives. Look at that second rule I quoted above. Would a typical person think Coulter's statement was true?
I can assure you that Politifact's writers and editors don't know anyone who would believe it to be true. But you dumb, mouth-breathing conservatives would. And since all of us NPR-listening, soy-half-caf-latte-sipping elites know all you red-state residents have a lower IQ than the University of Oregon football team scores before halftime, we need to fact-check this so we can refer you dummies to it when we deign to have a brief conversation with you before going to see Robert Reich's new documentary at the local art house theatre.
From a "red-state" voter in a blue state, I kindly encourage you hacks at Politifarce to sod off.
One comment on “Politifarce again”
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I'll offer a weak defense of PolitiFact's conclusion: At least they looked at the context and found the remark in a string of factoid-ish bullet points. This made them "certain" Coulter wasn't joking (or, presumably, exaggerating for emphasis). But then they go drooling all over themselves by looking for parts of the ACA that would restrict doctors from American medical schools from taking Obamacare patients. That's just an embarrassment. Thanks for writing about this one.