A reader notes that because Obama said he does skeet shooting “all the time,” perhaps our standard of proof should be higher---such as several photographs. That’s a reasonable point. We have also been asked why we did not immediately award Pinocchios, such as when Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) made unproven claims about Mitt Romney’s taxes. We try to avoid using “verdict pending,” but in cases of self-aggrandizement, we are willing to be a bit more patient. Obviously, if the White House is not forthcoming with additional evidence, then the claim becomes increasingly doubtful.
To be fair, this worthless gossip-monger reversed himself later, but this is symptomatic of a D.C. media culture that all too often leaves its "crap detector" disabled, and in so doing "mainlines the crazy" by giving legitimate voice to the dishonest ramblings of crackpots and cranks, all of whom have political axes to grind, in the interest of presenting Equally Opposing Views™ on every issue, no matter how trivial. It's arguably the single biggest reason over the last 20 years why fringe extremists like Newt Gingrich and Paul Ryan have come to be embraced in official policy circles as mainstream political thinkers. Forty years ago, they'd have been laughed our of town; today, their views are solicited weekly on the Sunday-morning talk shows.
---Baron V
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