My job ,the way I see it over these next few days is essentially to 'dispell myths and rumours' so; I have begun researching exactly which ads the other major campaign is running against barack and joe in the several states I have registered to begin calling. I had no information on the precise content and nature of the ads and the false nature of the information contained in them, as I move from day to day; given that the nature and mis-information campaign coming from the McCain camp widens and/or thereby completely changes as soon as the sun goes down and, as sure as it may shine again.
The traditional press is up in arms over John McCain's latest dishonest ad attacking Barack Obama. MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell called the ad "completely wrong, factually wrong!" The New York Times said it was "a false account of what occurred." And The Washington Post said the ad offered "no evidence" to support McCain's claims.
McCain must disavow this ad and make sure it never airs again. We won't let this race degenerate into ad distortions like the last election; we won't be silent in the face of lies. That's why we created this video entitled When McCain Attacks.
Watch the video and sign the petition.
Help end McCain's campaign of dishonesty. Sign our petition to compel McCain to disavow this ad and yank it from the air. Then send it to all your friends, family members, and colleagues. Tell them to spread it to everyone they know, and Digg it!
Hurry, because we're already seeing McCain's lies insidiously spread by other news outlets. Join us in declaring that we've had enough lies and dishonesty, we're ready for a new kind of politics.
Yours,Robert Greenwaldand the Brave New team
---Paid for by the Brave New PAC and not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. Brave New PAC is supported by members like you, please consider making a donation. To stop receiving the latest videos from us, click here. We are located at 10510 Culver Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.
... most people do not go out in search of facts or sound arguments. Rather, they let information find them.
And when it is delivered by established news sources, then the receiver's threshhold of skepticism is considerably lower than it might otherwise be.
Since whatever is sensationtional is what gets talked about, the "Celebrity" narrative that the McCain campaign has been developing - insistently and consistently - is what is going to reach people. Never mind that the "substabtive" policy related portions of these ads are entirely false. The things we hear shape our opinions and inform our choices. Someone tuning into the campaign season now is going to see and hear this story told everywhere not just by McCain, but by the news outlets who talk about it, and it is going to affect the way they think about their choice at the ballot.
In these past 18 months we have seen how easily misinformed people can become: a message that starts out simple and clear one day - that then has to make its way through an savage obstacle course of noisey gaffes/scandals/distractions and patent lies - ends up mangled and distorted, mishapen and full of static, so much so that what the receiver hears has not the remotest resemblance to what the initial messenger said.
The McCain campaign obviously knows this, and they are exploiting it for all its worth. They have now managed to get the antichrist meme into Time magazine. So what started out months ago as an outlandishly fringe fear mongering fantasy that made its way through individual email boxes has now made its way into an established news medium where it will automatically enjoy some measure of credibility for many readers.
The irony here is that McCain's campaign get to saddle Obama with their own characteristics: they portray him as frightening and devoid of empathy and substance by running a frightening campaign devoid of substance and empathy.
