I like the whole trend in systematic political fact-checking in websites such as PolitiFact and the Annenberg FactCheck.org. It's about time journalists called bullshit on political speech that falls short of the truth.
So I figured it was time to trot out the trusty Creative Loafing B.S. Detector for two of the nastier and sensational sets of claims we have seen this year.
The B.S. Detector: Christine Jennings vs. Vern Buchanan
Issue: The negative ads are flying hot and heavy on Tampa Bay media market television stations between incumbent Republican Congressman Vern Buchanan and his Democratic challenger, Christine Jennings, who lost a flawed election to Buchanan in 2006. That's probably because the Democratic Party has targeted the race, believing that Jennings was robbed of a victory two years ago. A Democratic poll in September showed the race at 44-40 for Buchanan.
Jennings has twice aired ads portraying a cutout Buchanan in court or at his car dealership while graphics and the announcer point out that Buchanan has been sued "more than 180 times" in one ad and "184 times" in the second. Graphics in one advertisement accuse Buchanan of "consumer fraud," "tax fraud," "campaign money laundering" and "hiring illegal immigrants."
Buchanan returned fire with two TV advertisements that insisted the media had criticized Jennings attack ads. His ads say the press called Jennings' ads "hogwash," "ugly" and "desperate." The two ads then accuse Jennings of supporting tax increases and giving "amnesty and social security benefits to illegal immigrants."
Facts: Let's start with Jennings' claims about Buchanan. According to an Aug. 30 story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and court records in Sarasota County, Buchanan has been sued 10 times in recent months by past employees at his car dealerships. One lawsuit, brought by his company's former controller, made allegations against dealership employees that included tax evasion (prompting the ad's "tax fraud" graphic) and sexual harassment. None of the acts is alleged to have been done directly by Buchanan; the controller's lawsuit alleges that Buchanan only had knowledge of wrongdoing.
Many of the recent high-profile lawsuits have been directed by the same Tallahassee lawyer, prompting claims that they are politically motivated. Jennings has denied any connection. Managers at his companies deny the allegations, and Buchanan, except in one instance, has refused to address them.
As to "campaign money laundering," the Jennings campaign points to a lawsuit filed by two former employees who claim that Buchanan's car dealership employees were pressured into contributing to his campaign and offered reimbursements if they did. A July 29 story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune included Buchanan's denial and said that of 10 dealership employees who contributed money and who could be contacted by the newspaper, only one admitted feeling pressure. Another lawsuit alleges that Buchanan employed illegal immigrants at his work and at home, prompting the "hiring illegal immigrants" tag.
The Jennings campaign has compiled a list of 184 lawsuits from databases in the Sarasota County courts that involve Buchanan or one of his many corporations. It is not clear from that list how many, if any, involved allegations of personal wrongdoing on Buchanan's part or how many of those cases resulted in judgments against him or his companies. There is no standard to compare the amount of litigation connected to Buchanan over a 20-year period with other similar businesses, especially in the automobile dealership business, so it is hard to definitively say that the number of lawsuits is so extraordinary that it requires some kind of investigation by authorities or by voters.
Our ruling: So it is True that Buchanan and/or his companies have been sued 184 times. The problems with Jennings ads, however, is that they use serious and sensational allegations to tarnish Buchanan, allegations only recently filed in court and not gone to trial. There is no time to resolve in court whether they are true or false before the Nov. 4 election. We call Bullshit on the use of unproven allegations against a political opponent. If we didn't, the floodgates would be open for anybody with enough cash to file a lawsuit for political purposes to march down to the courthouse and do so.
Facts: Now on to Buchanan's claims about Jennings.
First, let's examine if the press has really excoriated Jennings for her attack ads. Buchanan's TV ad rebutting the Jennings ads says the press called her campaign's attacks "hogwash," "ugly" and "desperate." A June 20 editorial in the Bradenton Herald used those words, but in context of an earlier Jennings attack, when the Jennings campaign pointed out that two of Buchanan's businesses had made mistakes in filing IRS taxes. The editorial cited was published at least two months before Jennings' first attack ads went up.
Our ruling: Using earlier criticism of a campaign to rebut a later, different allegation is misleading and Bullshit.
Facts: After attempting to rebut Jennings' negative ads, Buchanan then attacks Jennings for allegedly supporting higher taxes and wanting to give amnesty and social security to illegal immigrants. The Buchanan ad cites "her support for raising your taxes." Buchanan has "hinted" that she would support raising taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent in the nation by allowing the Bush tax cuts to lapse, according to the Anna Maria Island Sun website. Her own platform, however, advocates tax cuts for middle-class families. A conservative website, Human Events, cites a Venice newspaper in saying Jennings, "in fact, supports raising taxes on married couples, families with children, small businesses and farmers (Venice Gondolier, Sept. 6, 2006)." It reaches that conclusion based on this line from the newspaper story, printed two years ago on the night that Jennings won her primary race: "She also said she would roll back President Bush's tax cuts and lift the cap on Social Security contributions by wealthier taxpayers."
Our ruling: It depends on what your definition of "you" is. If "you" are among the nation's wealthiest 1 percent, taking home more than $250,000 annually, then yes, Jennings is considering raising your taxes. If you make less than that, this claim is Bullshit.
The B.S. Detector: The $700 billion bailout and terrorists
Issue: In last week's second presidential debate, John McCain said, "My friends, some of this $700 billion ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations." (Source: CNN.com, Oct. 7)
Facts: OK, we admit to initially being stumped by McCain's assertion that the bailout plan, for which he suspended his campaign and went to Washington to urge lawmakers to pass, was secretly helping terrorist organizations. (Transitively, does that mean that McCain was supporting terrorist organizations?)
But there is a possible indirect link between the bailout plan for bad mortgages and terrorism, albeit stated in highly suspect terms. This from Diane Francis of the National Post in Canada (Aug. 11):
"In fact, an Assyrian news website carried a story back in mid-2007 that FBI and other officials were concerned about a 'growing trend of terrorist associations [involved] with mortgage fraud rings in the U.S.'
"'In the past year [2007], several high-profile mortgage fraud arrests have been tied to federal terrorism investigations, most notably a ring busted up in Salt Lake City that is alleged to have direct ties to the late al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,' said the story. Money was obtained from banks fraudulently then transferred to Middle Eastern bank accounts controlled by terrorists. These cases grind through courts."
The Assyrian International News Agency story (April 11, 2007) began:
"A man arrested in December at the Kansas City airport with $70,000 in his bulging pockets while trying to board a Southwest Airlines flight claiming the money was actually Muslim prayer books, a San Francisco mortgage company executive who went on the run from the FBI in November, seven people arrested in September in Salt Lake City with ties to al-Qaeda, and a co-defendant in the Sami al-Arian/Palestinian Islamic Jihad trial all have one thing in common — the growing trend of terrorist associations with mortgage fraud rings in the US."
It must be pointed out that the Assyrian account lists Al-Arian co-defendant Sameeh Hammoudeh as part of this great mortgage fraud terrorism effort, a gross misrepresentation of the mortgage fraud charge he pleaded to in court. His fraud charges related to his concealment of his employment at the Islamic Academy and not fraud in subprime mortgages. Oh, and Hammoudeh was not a terrorist, either.
The UK, likewise, has suspicions that terrorists used bad mortgages, as this British press account details:
"An intelligence report by the Association of Chief Police Officers said that organised crime groups used mortgage fraud to generate income and launder money from the proceeds of their operations, such as drugs, human trafficking and prostitution. 'While there is no evidence to suggest mortgage fraud directly funds terrorist acts, this area of criminality has been encountered during investigations into UK-based terrorist groups,' it said. 'Mortgage fraud can be used to finance infrastructure including safe houses.'"
Our ruling: Given this tenuous link to terrorism (if that is indeed what McCain was referring to) and misimpression that either the bailout or Wall Street aided terrorists, we judge this statement to be Bullshit.
This article appears in Oct 15-21, 2008.
