Do Politicians Lie?

clipped from online.wsj.com In recent weeks, Ron Paul overstated the U.S. death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan, Rudy Giuliani overstated the impact on national crime rates of declining New York rates during his mayoral tenure, Barack Obama overstated the potential impact of an increase in voter turnout among black voters in the South, and John Edwards chose the higher of two government estimates of the number of Americans without bank accounts to emphasize a point. Those statistical stretches were identified and corrected by a pair of Web sites aiming to keep close tabs on the factual claims of the 2008 candidates. FactCheck.org, a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, monitored the last presidential race as well. It was joined two weeks ago by PolitiFact, a joint venture of the St. Petersburg Times and the Congressional Quarterly that rates candidates' claims on a so-called Truth-O-Meter, which has six settings ranging from "True" to "Pants on Fire."

Long Live Sanjaya

Hey, I don't mind admitting it, I watch American Idol. Frankly, I find the show uplifting. What could be better than watching young people reach for their dream--the American Dream. If nothing else you need to admire them for have the courage to go for it. It beats sitting on your butt dreaming about what you want.

And I'll tell ya what. I am a big fan of Sanjaya. That's right. The kid has a voice like Stevie Wonder.



The thing that interests me the most is the fact that every single person I know hates the kid and does not believe he deserves to be in the top twelve. Well guess what? Most of them have been paying off their weekly bets to me as the kid moves on.

They continually ask me what I see in Sanjaya? I honestly believe he has a "fantastic" voice. No he isn't a showman, nor does he have a big act. He looks like a deer in the headlights. But let's face it I am not the only one that sees something in the kid, America, or a slice of America believes in him.

Do I think he will make it much further? No, I don't. On the other hand, it won't surprise me if he goes another couple of weeks. One thing for sure, he is going to need to knock the cover off the ball if he intends to move on this week. Can he deliver the big big performance when he needs it? I for one am rooting for him.

I was sorry to see Sundance go. He is really terrific. But, sometimes they just don't seem to learn you gotta sing something popular. A tremendous rendition of a song none of us every heard of insures one thing--back you go to your day job. Right Constantino?

From the Robert T DeMarco Weblog


Robert T DeMarco Weblog: Long Live Sanjaya