Guest blogged by Jon Ponder, Pensito Review.
Events in the campaign this week offer a case study in how Fox “News” assists the right wing — in this case, the McCain campaign — to disseminate disinformation:
Monday: Speaking before the Veterans of Foreign Wars, John McCain falsely claimed credit for supporting the 21st Century GI Bill, which was sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.):
In reality, the bill McCain “sought” was not Webb-Hagel, which he opposed because its tuition benefits were “too generous” to the troops. The version he sought was a different bill that he co-sponsored, and which “in no way resembles” the bill which was ultimately passed, as noted by ThinkProgress…
If McCain’s version had passed, service members would have to wait to start college until they were 30 years old or older.
In the end, McCain did not even bother to show up on June 26 to vote on the bill, which passed the Senate 92 to six. All six senators who voted against it were Republicans. (The only other senator who did not vote was Ted Kennedy, who had recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor.)
But McCain may have been prevaricating to the wrong crowd. Turns out VFW leaders supported the Webb-Hagel bill:
VFW National Commander George Lisicki: “People are leaving after their first enlistment because they are tired of being shot at, and their families are tired of the frequent deployments … Whether they stay in four years or 20, we owe this newest, greatest generation the gift of education.”
Tuesday: Fox “News” runs with the story that McCain supported Webb-Hagel:
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