Lies, darn lies and the Internet

By Camille "Bud" George

If the truth will set us free, then the cottage industry of misinformation will keep us in shackles and high dander.

Barnum, who died in 1891, missed the heyday of hoaxes by roughly 100 years with the popularity of the Internet.

Hardly a week goes by where I'm not sent or shown something outrageous via the Internet. A caller or constituent invariably demands to know how such an injustice, oversight or insulting circumstance is allowed to continue.

And just as invariably, the supposed injustice is just a figment of someone's imagination or machination.

One recent example were pictures of an palatial prison with the heading, "Wow, your tax dollars at work." The pictures showed courtyards, basketball courts and game rooms -- it could pass for a luxury hotel -- and it was alleged to be a new prison in Chicago.

The item noted, "Now... who was the Chicago US Senator who helped arrange the funds to build this beautiful `punishment' center. Oh yes, it was B. Obama!!! No wonder he sees nothing wrong with the wasted spending in his `Stimulus Plan.'"

Problem is, the palatial prison is in Austria, according to http://www.snopes.com, which debunks Internet rumors. Obama never had a thing to do with it.

Other hoaxes allege the ACLU objected to U.S. Marines praying on federal property and the placement of religious grave markers.

The prayer dispute was pure fiction and the ACLU has long argued that veterans and their families should be free to choose religious symbols on military headstones.

I am not suggesting that liberal-leaning groups are the sole victims of false diatribes -- the examples were simply the latest brought to my attention.

When the ability to make informed decisions on public policy is harmed, we all suffer.

The St. Petersburg, Fla., Times newspaper won a 2009 Pulitzer Prize for its http://www.politifact.com Web page, which dissects the claims, falsehoods and distortions in the national political arena.

The Web site is entertaining and scary. It's [Liar, Liar] "Pants on Fire" section highlights the most egregious lies, and features a full menu of Republicans and Democrats, including President Obama, Vice President Biden, the Clintons, Sen. McCain, Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

Sarah Palin seems a special case. Her statement that seniors and the disabled "will have to stand in front of Obama's death panel" was voted PolitiFact's Lie of the Year for 2009.

Ms. Palin tried to defend her death panel remark, saying her use of the term "death panel" should not be taken literally, and that she would use it again.

She's wrong. PolitiFact notes that two independent polls showed that about 30 percent of the public believed death panels were part of health care reform.

Yet, the former Alaska governor also is the victim of assorted dirty tricks, including forged academic records that portrayed her in a less-than-flattering light.

There's probably not enough ink or electrons in the universe to debunk all the misinformation being sent out about health care with the pharmaceutical and insurance industries reportedly spending $700,000 a day to spin the issue their way.

We're all on notice. If the truth will set us free, then the cottage industry of misinformation will keep us in shackles and high dander.

The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan got it right: Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.

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