Yesterday I noted the inanity of some of the media's attempts at fact checking. It's this kind of spurious precision in fact checking that leads to the media saying "both sides are lying," and call it a draw.
One of the differences between the British and American media is the kind of cynicism they have about politicians. The American media assumes that both government and opposition are equally bad. The British media tend to assume that their role is to act as an alternative opposition to the government, and occasionally as an alternative to the opposition party itself. In general the British media assume that the government is likely to be more guilty of dishonesty, influence peddling, and things bordering on corruption than the opposition.
Remember Lord Acton: "Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Acton -- an historian, no less -- was writing about a system where you could -- if you were the King -- have absolute power. There's no reason for the American media to forget the first part of the quote, just because the second part isn't applicable anymore.
What it means is that we shouldn't be surprised that the incumbent is more likely to tell lies and to shade the truth than his opponent. That'll be true too when President Kerry faces off against Pawlenty in 2008 ...
Posted by robe0419 at October 22, 2004 11:22 AM