B E B E R E

Usually, I don't watch TV or listen to commercial radio, so I've been spared nearly all of the political ads, mercifully. If I'd have been subjected to more of these distortions, I think I'd have either taken my own life or moved to Canada or something.

The Kerry ad I saw didn't surprise me for a minute, as he's pretty notorious for pedalling some whoppers against his opponents here. It just really grated on my nerves, and I did have to answer back to the TV (sorry Hal).

1.) Iraq is a 'quagmire' and we were misled and rushed to war by the President.
This has all been covered by other, more knowledgable people than I am. (Take a look at Belmont Club for great, in depth analyses of the War on Terror, and particularly on Iraq.)
2.) Tax cuts for the rich are hurting the poor and middle class.
Hmm, I'm not rich. What the heck - I work for a human services agency and make just a hair over $40,000/year. This last tax return saw me get a refund that caused me to be able to both pay off a student loan (few hundred dollars) and pay off my computer (another couple hundred dollars.) I certainly don't feel like I'm suffering at the hands of the rich.
3.) The most jobs have been lost under this president's administration in 75 years.
Truly, where does he get these numbers? When Bush came into office, it was at the start of a recession. (I know that stuff started getting soft under Clinton, as that was about the time when I began a job search.) Shortly thereafter, the country was hit by the worst terrorist attack ever seen. This slammed the economy in a few areas.
Of course things were bad. (How bad, though, really? I know of no one in this part of the country who was unemployed for long. Housing costs are still going up. What am I missing?) Then, we get news like this. Inconvenient, I'm sure, and also, like most of the good news, to be ignored.

For pete's sake, if you're going to be fib, at least be convincing, for crying out loud. And don't assume that we aren't bright enough or motivated enough look this stuff up on our own.