There's Truth, Then There's Truth

This isn't a Northlake topic, but I thought it was interesting. I generally have problems with the mainstream media's choice of issues and its weak-tea approach. Last week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution did a "Truth-O-Meter" (which I like) about a congresswoman's comment that took on a life of its own in the conservative media. So, naturally the claim/counter claim became "the conversation," rather than the larger question, which apparently is taboo. I wrote the AJC a letter, which I have offered below (with changes). It is revised here for your consumption. The original won't be published anyway.

There’s truth, then there’s Truth

Regarding the Truth-O-Meter analysis of Rep. Debbie Wasserman’s Jim Crow remark, I’m sure the AJC exposing such tactical (even if not calculated) “untruths” sells news, but how about doing something a little bigger – like analyzing long-running myths simply assumed to be true and not questioned or even qualified as “alleged but not proven”. Questioning The Bigger Lie or simply identifying it for the public’s good gets a “ho hum” because you can’t attribute a Big Lie to anyone in particular. It’s more fun to say “Wasserman’s claim” and stick her for it, piling on the current feeding frenzy than doing something truly original. In your new “Myth-O-Meter,” you could try to establish unequivocally the “conventional wisdom” that there actually is systemic fraud at the polls. You can’t--even if you find some aspect of the slippery charge of “voter fraud” which is mostly over-aggressive voter registration. You will also find that it is difficult to differentiate registration errors from intentional fraud. Then, to the bottom line, you will likely find that even when someone is illegally (incorrectly?) registered, the person never makes it to the polls. At which point, your now better educated readers will conclude that requiring voter ID is akin to using a sledgehammer to swat a fly—and a slippery slope to a national ID system.  “Myth-O-Meter”—now that would be a public service.

Up next: Now that Alabama has a more controling immigration regulation than any other state, will Georgia's be called "Alabama Like" or remain "Arizona Like", the latter phrase obviously adopted and repeated ad-infinitum to foment controversy.