Unsought Input

By now everyone has heard about Barack Obama’s former pastor Jeremiah Wright and the inflammatory speeches he gave. But before I go on, stop and ask yourself, what have you actually heard?

Did you hear the speeches, or did you just hear that the speeches were racist and proclaimed hatred for America?

Did see the video of the actual speeches or did you hear a bunch of speculation over whether or not Obama has distanced himself enough?

Did you get to read the full text of the sermons, or did you just see tiny, tiny pieces, quotes taken out of context?

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I’ll say it: Barack Obama is a liar.

Surprised? Secretly happy? Are you shocked, and demand to hear some evidence?

Well, Stephen Colbert has the evidence, and it turns out to be pretty flimsy:

Obama recalled reading an article when he was nine years old, and it turns out it wasn’t in Life magazine, as he thought, but in Esquire. But it doesn’t matter. As Al Gore found out in 2000 and John Kerry found out in 2004, complex positions on issues and factual reality is trumped by attack labeling. By “attack labels,” I mean those wonderful soundbites, usually just a few words and never more than a sentence, that are used to turn a politician into a caricature. It’s similar to the doublespeak that has given us wonderful phrases such as the “death tax” and “we cannot wait for the final proof — the smoking gun — that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”

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