Since altogether too many Americans make their electoral decisions based on information gleaned by reading headlines and not worrying about facts buried in articles, we know the damage done when the headline reads "CBS documents flawed" rather than "CBS given flawed documents" or "Kerry supports terrorists, says Bush" instead of "..."...well, this kind of crap shouldn't even be covered unless the headline is "Bush makes shit up, is evil".
Anyway, the AP apparently hired a fact-checker and the Seattle Times hired a headline writer for the election, and about time, I'd say!
An article in today's Times reads: "Bush twists Kerry's words on Iraq" (
read the fun here).
Now the article points out that both campaigns have been known to have their way with the others' words, but the point of the story is debunking the nonsense spewed by Bush and Cheney that Kerry (or anyone who disagrees with them in any way, about anything) would like to see Saddam back in power. Most frightening line in the article:
He stated flatly that Kerry had said earlier in the week "he would prefer the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein to the situation in Iraq today." The line drew gasps of surprise from Bush's audience in a Racine, Wis., park.
Gasps of surprise? Is there any more clear evidence that Bush supporters completely shut themselves off from any source of information outside of Dear Leader and his chosen surrogates?
But the important thing is that our skimmers are hopefully going to start seeing headlines like this instead of the usual rah-rah pablum. Here's hoping, anyway!
