Lie on, McDuff

Whatever else is changing (or declining) in the sad political circus that is the US, FoxNews continues to make stuff up with great alacrity. An item from Fox's Hannity & Colmes (with Swiftboater John O'Neill) reported in Media Matters caught my eye today, because it mentioned Illinois' Sen Barack Obama.

Part of the transcript as provided by Media Matters reads:

From the May 18 edition of Hannity & Colmes:
HANNITY: Here's what is bothering me, John. Barack Obama said, quote, "We are helping the insurgency," unquote. John Kerry himself said American soldiers need not be getting -- going into the homes of Iraqis terrorizing women and children. Harry Reid said our presence is a problem, we're an occupying force. This is almost
now coming out on a daily basis, these attacks against our brave men and women.
O'NEILL: Sean, it ought to be possible to oppose a war without trying to vilify the people that were sent to fight it.

Media Matters provides what Sen. Obama actually, quote, said, unquote:

Hannity also misquoted Obama, who said on the January 22 broadcast of NBC's Meet the Press: "We are an irritant, and we help spur the insurgency even as we're defending a fledgling Iraqi government against that insurgency."

How this gets to be, quote, "trying to vilify", unquote, the troops is almost beyond me. (Actually, I reckon that Rep. Murtha's comments about an alleged atrocity by US Marines in Iraq are the subtext here. Fox especially doesn't like inconvenient truths, even alleged ones.)

At any rate, I took the opportunity to write my Senator, encouraging him not to let himself be Swift [nor slow]-boated. Probably not much point, but I keep hoping that someday they will pin these SOBs to some wall:

Dear Sen. Obama,

I am sure that you have a philosophy of letting most press criticism roll off your back, and I certainly understand that. At the same time, it seems to me that outlets such as FoxNews do far more than criticize: they create, distort and lie-- and this time about _you._

According to Media Matters (URL), reasonable and hardly original comments you made about the US military in Iraq helping to "spur the insurgency" were reported by Sean Hannity as "Here's what is bothering me, John. Barack Obama said, quote, 'We are helping the insurgency,' unquote." This to the co-founder of the Swift Boat attack group.

Hannity further commented, "This is almost now coming out on a daily basis, these attacks against our brave men and women." And O'Neill replied, "Sean, it ought to be possible to oppose a war without trying to vilify the people that were sent to fight it."

Of course the only person being vilified is you (and Sens. Reid and Kerry). It seems to me that you have grounds to bring charges of slander.

In any case, I think there needs to be public outrage at this sort of mischaracterization, and you have grounds for raising it, on behalf not only of yourself and your colleagues, but on behalf of those of us who support you.

Thank you.