Other Stuff

quickhits:

100%, undeniably true statements are only half-true now.
Steve Benen:
In his State of the Union address, President Obama noted an important observation that Americans may not be aware of: “In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005.”
That’s true. America’s private sector has, in fact, created 3.13 million jobs over the last 22 months. What’s more, looking at the annual totals, 2011 was the best year for private-sector job growth since 2005, and the second best since 1999. That’s not spin; it’s just what happened.
PolitiFact, meanwhile, wasn’t satisfied with the claim, labeling it “half-true.”

In his remarks, Obama described the damage to the economy, including losing millions of jobs “before our policies were in full effect.” Then he describe [sic] the subsequent job increases, essentially taking credit for the job growth. But labor economists tell us that no mayor or governor or president deserves all the claim or all the credit for changes in employment.

“The president made two observations: noting the number of private-sector jobs created since March 2010, and comparing 2011 job totals against recent years. What Obama said is literally, demonstrably accurate,” Benen writes. “He didn’t fudge the numbers; he didn’t exclude details or context; he didn’t even take credit for the data. The president, making a point about the improving national economy, simply highlighted statistics that are easily confirmed through arithmetic.”
After the “Lie of the Year” disaster, I think we can safely conclude that the supposedly “unbiased” PolitiFact is, in fact, biased as all get-out. But it’s not a political bias, it’s a bias in favor of seeming unbiased — if you can get your head around that. The word “unbiased” — as journalists seem to use it — has come to mean “I believe both sides are just as bad.” So for every GOP whopper, a dem one has to be dug up. Since the number of lies on both sides aren’t equal, they have to make some up on behalf of Democrats, as they’ve done here. Both sides aren’t actually as bad when it comes to lies, but coming right out and saying that Republicans lie more often screws up the whole narrative.

100%, undeniably true statements are only half-true now.

Steve Benen:
In his State of the Union address, President Obama noted an important observation that Americans may not be aware of: “In the last 22 months, businesses have created more than three million jobs. Last year, they created the most jobs since 2005.”

That’s true. America’s private sector has, in fact, created 3.13 million jobs over the last 22 months. What’s more, looking at the annual totals, 2011 was the best year for private-sector job growth since 2005, and the second best since 1999. That’s not spin; it’s just what happened.

PolitiFact, meanwhile, wasn’t satisfied with the claim, labeling it “half-true.”

In his remarks, Obama described the damage to the economy, including losing millions of jobs “before our policies were in full effect.” Then he describe [sic] the subsequent job increases, essentially taking credit for the job growth. But labor economists tell us that no mayor or governor or president deserves all the claim or all the credit for changes in employment.

“The president made two observations: noting the number of private-sector jobs created since March 2010, and comparing 2011 job totals against recent years. What Obama said is literally, demonstrably accurate,” Benen writes. “He didn’t fudge the numbers; he didn’t exclude details or context; he didn’t even take credit for the data. The president, making a point about the improving national economy, simply highlighted statistics that are easily confirmed through arithmetic.”

After the “Lie of the Year” disaster, I think we can safely conclude that the supposedly “unbiased” PolitiFact is, in fact, biased as all get-out. But it’s not a political bias, it’s a bias in favor of seeming unbiased — if you can get your head around that. The word “unbiased” — as journalists seem to use it — has come to mean “I believe both sides are just as bad.” So for every GOP whopper, a dem one has to be dug up. Since the number of lies on both sides aren’t equal, they have to make some up on behalf of Democrats, as they’ve done here. Both sides aren’t actually as bad when it comes to lies, but coming right out and saying that Republicans lie more often screws up the whole narrative.

(Reblogged from quickhits)

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