When I saw the headline at WashingtonPost.com "Closing the Whopper Gap" with columnist Ruth Marcus's name next to it, I naturally assumed this had to be another hit piece on John McCain akin to what my colleague Mark Finkelstein reported last week.
Yet, upon closer examination, it turned out Marcus's target of disaffection this time was -- wait for it! -- Barack Obama.
And, she even defended Rush Limbaugh.
I'm not kidding.
In fact, Marcus went after the junior senator from Illinois in such an aggressive fashion that she not only will likely be eviscerated by her typically adoring fans in the liberal blogosphere, but also could end up being named Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" next week (emphasis added throughout):
On immigration, Obama is running a Spanish-language ad that unfairly lumps McCain together with Rush Limbaugh -- and quotes Limbaugh out of context. On health care, Obama misleadingly accuses McCain of wanting to impose a $3.6 trillion tax hike on employer-provided insurance.
Obama has been furthest out of line, however, on Social Security, stooping to the kind of scare tactics he once derided.
"If my opponent had his way, the millions of Floridians who rely on it would have had their Social Security tied up in the stock market this week," Obama said Saturday as he campaigned in that retiree-heavy state. "Millions of families would've been scrambling to figure out how to give their mothers and fathers, their grandmothers and grandfathers, the secure retirement that every American deserves."
This is simply false -- even leaving aside the incendiary language about "privatizing" Social Security. As the invaluable FactCheck.org noted, the private account plan suggested by President Bush and backed by McCain would not have applied to anyone born before 1950. It would not have changed benefits by a single penny for current retirees like the nice Florida folks that Obama was trying to rile up.
Checking that link to make sure this really was Ruth Marcus? I understand. I checked it thrice, especially after the following:
Obama's ads on Social Security are equally misleading. "Cutting benefits in half, risking Social Security on the stock market," it warns. "The Bush-McCain privatization plan. Can you really afford more of the same?"
Cutting benefits in half? As FactCheck notes, "this is a rank misrepresentation." No one at or near retirement age would have been affected. Those retiring in the future would not have received benefits as big as what they have been promised under current law -- but those promises cannot be paid for under the current system or even through the payroll tax increase on the wealthy that Obama has proposed.The Bush plan would have limited benefits for some workers to growing at the rate of inflation rather than at the generally faster pace of wages. In other words, these workers would be getting benefits equal in real dollar value to those received by current retirees. But under the "progressive price indexing" approach endorsed by the president, lower-income workers would continue to receive all their promised benefits; medium-income workers would have their benefits reduced somewhat; and high-income workers would take the biggest hit.
The Obama campaign stretches the truth beyond recognition when it says that this would cut benefits in half.
Wow. Ruth Marcus actually fact-checked the Messiah...and defended Rush Limbaugh? In the same article?
Somebody pinch me.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.



















Editor at Large
Comments Policy
No Kool-Aid?
September 21, 2008 - 19:47 ET by AgentAmericanRuth must have missed her daily allowance of Kool-Aid. Instead she drank coffee that sobered her up.
Drill ANWAR
she's probably just a
September 22, 2008 - 15:32 ET by TruthMongershe's probably just a hillary lover venting some payback
quite a few out there - puma:)
Journalism is the opium of the liberals
Ruth Marcus' name is now mud in the MSM!
September 21, 2008 - 19:57 ET by goldenthroatWow! Did she ever go after Osama Bama with both barrels! You're right, Noel - she is about to be banished from every left-wing blog and newspaper she ever wrote for - but isn't this becoming a rising trend? More in the MSM are waking up to the real empty suit, cardboard cutout Osama Bama and how much of a fraud he really is.
I look for Marcus to be interviewed on FNC this week - and for defending El Rushbo? Doesn't that fall under the catagory of "when hell freezes over"?
"Mediocrities everywhere! I absolve you! I absolve you!" - Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus"
---
September 21, 2008 - 20:01 ET by KJ_sezSounds like someone at WaPo has a serious case of buyer's remorse, doesn't it?
I demand real change - force a Democrat to speak the truth!
Bing! Bing! Bing! We have a winner, KJ_sez!
September 21, 2008 - 20:13 ET by goldenthroatAnd KJ, it's just beginning - this poll will not make the MSM any happier here in the Buckeye State:
http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=432268&r=0&Category=23&subCategoryID=32
No president has ever won the White House without Ohio - and this poll is significant considering his lordship Osama Bama has led most of the year here. The libs in the Ohio MSM are doing everything they can to promote BHO and it is all beginning to implode.
"Mediocrities everywhere! I absolve you! I absolve you!" - Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus"
Canton Rep
September 22, 2008 - 05:22 ET by BobAnthonyReading some of the comments on the Canton Rep article it looks like some of Dennis "Cleveland Cuckoo Commie" Kucinich's friends made their presence known.
Sounds like the most logical explanation
September 21, 2008 - 20:22 ET by Indiana Joeto me. A very few rats are recognizing the "sinking ship" that is Obama, and are trying to salvage something of their careers. I've been wondering when and how many of those cheerleaders in the MSM will blink.
Might be the beginning of a trend.
"... smells like... victory." - Robert Duvall
Can't argue with people that actually state facts now can we?
September 21, 2008 - 20:07 ET by JWFSo I will just tell everyone what happened when I pinched Noel.
The man up and punched me! Square on the nose!
Ok. Ok. I pinched him on the butt. He did not specify a location now did he?
Noel should makes his requests for pinching more clear in the future.
JWF
September 21, 2008 - 20:10 ET by Noel SheppardJWF,
Well, I expect that when I ask a mixed-gender group to pinch me, the guys understand that my butt is off limits. Sheesh! :-) ns
Sorry no pinch...
September 21, 2008 - 20:15 ET by d1carterFox News just reported a giant lightening bolt has struck the WaPo...heh
A journalist, one from the
September 21, 2008 - 20:20 ET by stratmanA journalist told the truth, facts and all?
Astonishing.
A monkey just flew out my butt.
Does this mean the Cleveland Browns will win the Superbowl this year?
Depends
September 21, 2008 - 20:23 ET by Indiana JoeWho does the monkey like?
"... smells like... victory." - Robert Duvall
Don't
September 21, 2008 - 20:47 ET by stratmanDon't know...
I'm thinking it would take hell freezing over before Cleveburg's in the Superbowl... or after I'm dead, at which point I won't care anymore. Till then, it's like death by a thousand cuts.
There are children about
September 21, 2008 - 21:57 ET by JWFYou can't say the monkey butt thing.
A primate of the pan troglodyte species levitated from my anal orifice.
Uh-uh
September 21, 2008 - 23:13 ET by Indiana JoeCan't say "anal."
"... nether region."
"... smells like... victory." - Robert Duvall
How about "A winged primate
September 21, 2008 - 23:52 ET by stratmanHow about "A winged primate soared forth from my alimentary canal into the moonlite celestial sky"?
I've been trying to work the word "cloaca" into a post on NB. This was close but no cigar.
You just made me look it up......
September 22, 2008 - 04:00 ET by old croThanks, I enjoy new words. I think you would be able to use it were the subject a democrat, especially one of the secondary meanings ;)
HAHA!Pondering further
October 5, 2008 - 15:41 ET by stratmanHAHA!
Pondering further on cloaca and Democrats... I think that is the part of their anatomy we would call "mouth".
Hey, Stratman!
September 21, 2008 - 20:43 ET by goldenthroatWill the Browns win the Super Bowl this year?
If that happens, I have some real estate at the base of Mt. St. Helens I'll sell ya!
"Mediocrities everywhere! I absolve you! I absolve you!" - Antonio Salieri in "Amadeus"
Odds of Cleveland winning
September 21, 2008 - 21:01 ET by stratmanOdds of Cleveland winning the Superbowl was 55:1 before today's game. After today, they'll be lucky to stay in double digits.
Mt. St. Helen's will have blown long before the Browns win the Superbowl. (Not funny since eruption predictions include during our lifetime)
Does it count if...
September 22, 2008 - 00:09 ET by jawebster1the Baltimore Ravens win the Superbowl? Jim Webster
At least the Ravens (ugh)
October 5, 2008 - 15:45 ET by stratmanAt least the Ravens (ugh) have won a Superbowl.
Pleasantly, I just watched the Ravens get beat by Tennessee. Small pleasures in life keep one going during Cleveland's Bye Week. :-)
Swampland for sale in FL?
September 22, 2008 - 04:13 ET by tomnkikiSwampland for sale in FL? Sandy beachfront in the Sahara? Or, a little more realistically, cardboard box under an overpass, once Obama gets done with us?
Hate to be a cynical pessimist, but....
September 21, 2008 - 20:53 ET by lotrI'm waiting for the follow-up grovelling apology, a la Chris Matthews style.
A "pinch" didn't do it for
September 21, 2008 - 21:03 ET by RMRA "pinch" didn't do it for me Noel. I needed a stinging slap across the face before I believed this one.
John McCain will need body armor to survive her next attack.
it's truly a sad state of affairs when ...
September 21, 2008 - 21:14 ET by pmohbucka columnist for a major newspaper has to be singled out for being truthful ... kudos to ruth marcus for doing her job by reporting the truth ... too bad she's in the minority
I'd be shocked
September 22, 2008 - 05:24 ET by BobAnthonyIf El Rushbo Grande DID NOT LEAD OFF his program today with this article.
Nicely done, Ms. Marcus.
September 21, 2008 - 21:49 ET by SchnikeysNicely done, Ms. Marcus. Now if some of your counterparts in the MSM would only come out of the GOP-hatred closet a little more frequently.
------------------------------------------------------------
"My morality is your morality."
Investigative reporting
September 21, 2008 - 22:36 ET by TheCynicThe only thing standing between Obama and defeat is reporter laziness. All it takes is a little bit of research and fact checking, readily done at your desk through Google, to debunk the vast majority of his disinformation.
Obama is playing "wag the dog" before he's even in office.
We should welcome her...
September 21, 2008 - 23:05 ET by Saint Zeroto the correct side of the street. It doesn't hurt to visit truth and honesty more often. I'd settle for good research and critical thinking out of the press.
Let us not...
September 22, 2008 - 00:03 ET by jawebster1attack someone for telling the truth even though the truth is not a common commodity with the MSM. I commend Ruth Marcus for her brave deed. May she live long and prosper. (As long as she keeps telling the truth no matter which side it hurts.) Jim Webster
Another Palin Smear
September 22, 2008 - 01:49 ET by Lame CherryI came across a smear by a researcher named Debbie Niwa who actually was doing some good work on exposing the North American Union.
Her idea is though to smear Gov. Palin as like the rest, because she is not perfect. Perfection on Ms. Niwa's part is taking a bit of information and twisting it to Ms. Niwa's judgment.
As turn about if fair play, here would be a good place to expose Ms. Niwa to the same tactics she employed.
I ask people to cut Gov. Palin allot of room please as there is not one person reading this who could not be smeared if the media came after you.
Gov. Palin is a person who is not perfect, but it seems writers like
Ms. Niwa are looking for a messiah instead of an elected politician.
I can also related that I ran across a very nice lady who actually
lived in Gov. Palin's hometown when she was mayor and volunteered the
following without being asked, "Sarah is what you see and what you get.
She is real and genuine".
*Debbie Niwa, Guess What?
Debbie Niwa is termed the Patron Saint of Patriots. She has not refuted
this messiah like title like Barack Obama, leaving the conclusion she
agrees with such behavior or perhaps she is part of the Jesuit Black
Pope order recorded as attempt the conversion and overthrowing of the
United States government.
Debbie Niwa is quoted by the Iowa John Birch Society. The John Birch
Society is a well documented front controlled by the Rockefeller
globalist New World Order group attempting to overthrow American
sovereignty by the North American Union which Ms. Niwa claims she is
against.
Debbie Niwa quotes the Cleveland Free Times which happens to be a
proponent of "democracy" in America. Democracy is mob rule and has
nothing to do with a free Republic.
Debbie Niwa in the Cleveland Free Times she is bringing to the front as
a quotable source has a current article on the rock band Buckcherry.
Buck Cherry has a pornographic song titled Crazy B*tch in which use
the F word repeatedly and has lyrics of rough, unmarried sex of a woman
clawing at a males back.
Debbie Niwa quoting the Cleveland Free Times has a Miller beer ad on it
depicting what looks like barely legal children being promoted to
alcohol abuse.
Debbie Niwa quotes Bob Harris who is on Amazon.com a left wing internet company.
Debbie Niwa in promoting Bob Harris is aware that Amazon.com does not
pay local and state taxes, thereby cheating communities out of money
for childcare, emergency services and shutting down small mom and pop
book stores in favor of the globalist mass market.
Debbie Niwa quotes the Wall Street Journal owned by Rupert Murdoch who
backs Barack Obama and has told his FOX crew to take it easy on Mr.
Obama.
Debbie Niwa quotes the Oregonian, the same state which elected Barack
Obama, promotes the global warming scam, votes to abort children and is
destroying forests all to publish a paper which backs Barack Obama.
That should be enough to prove the point to readers that Ms. Niwa is
not all she claims to be and is part of the group leading America down
the wrong path, as she accuses Gov. Palin...........
or
Debbie Niwa like all people leave a signature in life which can be
interpreted by anyone without any common sense to mean whatever they
want it to or can be twisted by Barack Obama to smear anyone.
I will ask people again to cut Gov. Palin some slack. Unless you lived
in Alaska and knew this woman personally as the above woman did,
looking up fragmented stories and judging the person is about as
shallow and uninformed as it comes.
Trig Palin, look him up in a mother who carried him and will care for
him all his life. The same mother who is making it a priority for all
handicapped children to be given life instead of infanticide.
That is who Gov. Palin is.
Those people like Debbie Niwa keep smearing Gov. Palin as a 5th column of Mr. Obama and you will elect him.
Unless your intent is to accomplish that so make money off of Obama
books and spend the next 8 years making your living off of complaining
on talk radio about the man you helped elect, I suggest start being
part of the solution for the United States and assist Gov. Palin in
forming better policy for all citizens.
God bless
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
"...there is not one person
September 22, 2008 - 04:10 ET by tomnkiki"...there is not one person reading this who could not be smeared if the media came after you."
What do you mean? I'm perfect!!
*cough* *blink, blink* *crickets chirping* *people staring*
WHAT??!! You all don't believe that?? ;-)
Debbie Niwa
October 4, 2008 - 11:40 ET by Dega99The article to which "Lame Cherry" (not his/her real name) refers, by Debbie Niwa was accompanied by a long list of links supporting everything she stated in her article. When Rense.com posted her article, however, they stripped all the supporting links.
What Debbie Niwa wrote was not a smear; it was a gathering of already published information, much from websites controlled by the state government Palin heads.
To smear Debbie Niwa as Lame Cherry has, is uncalled for. Rense.com has been called on to remove Lame Cherry's diatribe above, also posted there, and to include the links as originally provided by Debbie Niwa.
As for Sarah Palin, Debbie Niwa encourages everyone to get the facts and make up their own mind.
I don't know Debbie Niwa
October 5, 2008 - 15:35 ET by stratmanI don't know Debbie Niwa nor the artricle in question.
I do know the Cleveland Free Times. I read that rag for years while growing up in Cleveland. I stopped reading that rag when I realized the United States is not and should not be the home of anarchists, Leftists, Marxists, Communists, haters and whiners of democracy and freedom and the price that must be paid for reaining free in our Republic.
The Cleveland Free Times' blend of snark and snot, odd and bizarre, hate and apathy, and anti-capitalism and pro-Castro/Che were enough to stop me from cracking an issue again. Reading some of their articles is like reading the diary of a delusional, confused streetperson - at least the streetperson has an excuse for their rantings. It is the newspaper of the malcontent and the bitter.
Whatever lightheartedness and desire for a truly better world the newspaper displayed in the past has been crushed by years of bigotry and hatred erupted from their writers and editors who's goal is to stir the pot any which way, make some beer money, and develop a bad-ass reputation among dilettante pretender 'fellow travellers'.
And today's weather radar...
September 22, 2008 - 04:34 ET by MexNobama....shows a low pressure front developing that should have a drastic cooling effect upon the 9th circle of hell.
Secular humanists should be prerpared to bundle up for the next week or so.
Wait a minute...
September 22, 2008 - 06:42 ET by Hero SquadDid that article end with "Hillary in '12?"
*****
"People only insist that a debate stop when they are afraid of what might be learned if it continues." - George Will
Feigned objectivity only a ruse
September 22, 2008 - 09:13 ET by right_is_rightBeware: Wacked-out liberals sometimes feign objectivity to prop up their credibility. Those who take the bait might find themselves in the unfortunate position of thinking, "There must be a grain of truth in all of the crazy things she's written."
Nice try, Ruth, but I'm not biting.
Great job Ruth Marcus! If
September 22, 2008 - 09:55 ET by bradbenj5952Great job Ruth Marcus! If the media at large did this kind of reporting every day, not in defense of one side or the other, but did the job the Constitution intended, that is, keeping politicians in check no matter which finger of the political constellation they live on, then this country could get back to its former greatness. Any politician would think twice before attempting to perpetrate a lie upon the American people just to win an election. All Americans should understand right well that any politician who would do such a thing cares only for their own ambitions and nothing about doing what is right for us.
Ruth, this may be a niche market for you; writing articles that fact check any high profile politician's public pronouncements regardless of political stripe. I for one would read you.
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Acts 16:31
Bravo, Ms. Marcus! Let's
September 22, 2008 - 10:15 ET by Mean Gene Dr. LoveBravo, Ms. Marcus!
Let's hope this becomes a trend with reporters and columnists in the media.
"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life." --Robert A. Heinlein, "Beyond This Horizon", 1942
Well I am flabbergasted
September 22, 2008 - 12:16 ET by bigtimerWell I am flabbergasted here...I cannot believe it...this coming from Ruth...Hillary's good friend for years and years..
Oh wait a second...Hillary's pal.
...LOL!
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Ok now I know i'm on drugs
September 22, 2008 - 19:07 ET by hbestOk, just had knee surgery. Taking copious amounts of percocet. Had to re-read the article twice, then had my wife read it to me, then discussed it with her to see if I was UNDERSTANDING it right!
Well, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. -- I could have said even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then, but that would have been sexist. You know, like Obama's lipstick on a pig thing.
marcus and her
September 22, 2008 - 19:45 ET by docbqualifiers--some, reduced somewhat, not as big as promised, born after 1950 ---how is this cred...Bet the FC. org will take aim at her twisting their facts...
McSame helped do this and he does not want to take the blame.
Keating 5...Gramm Bill of 1999 repeal of Glass Steagall 1999...
IDEAS, please?
September 22, 2008 - 23:30 ET by UnsaneAny IDEAS you wish to share, or are you just a vomiting parrot of propaganda?
Whoever casts a vote for Obama-Biden is nothing more than a common thief. Whoever fails to vote against them is nothing more than a moral coward.
You are better than me Unsane.
September 22, 2008 - 23:43 ET by JWFHere is what was going through my brain on that post.
Wha..? Huh...? Whaah...? It looks like english but where are the verbs and nouns and... Huh?
It's gibberish, probably
September 23, 2008 - 09:04 ET by lotrIt's gibberish, probably generated by a spam bot. I get e-mails with this stuff in it all the time. I just press spam or delete.