McCain's "Absolute Truth" Claim Taken Apart

Politico:

John McCain told the Des Moines Register this week that he always tells "100 percent absolute truth," even in campaign ads. There's one big problem with that bold statement: it's just not true.

McCain has made a number of statements - in paid ads and on the campaign trail - that simply cannot be described as 100 percent accurate. Some aren't even close.

Barack Obama is guilty, too. He falsely accused McCain of wanting to slice Social Security benefits in half and grossly exaggerated his role in writing this year's economic stimulus plan. He also promised to accept public financing - and then proceeded to opt out when it was clear he could raise more money on his own.

But only McCain made this dare: prove it, he told the Register. The paper did not - Politico will.

Read the whole story: Politico

Comments

[NotMcCain]

#1 I doubt Obama said McSame wants to "cut s.s. benefits in half". But, if he DID, I would wager there's some good back up for it.

And McCain exaggerated his role in the bailout. Using his own claims against him is perfectly legitimate.

That said, McCain's ads have mostly been partial or complete lies. As he knows full well.

[LeawoodKansas]

Finding McCain's lies is like shooting wolves from a low flying plane.

[tel8034]

Everyone knew McCain was a LIAR when he claimed he was all about STRAIGHT-TALK and that he was HONORABLE.

[Monkey416]

I used to joke that the way you'd know a republican was lying was that he opened his mouth. I guess it wasn't a joke. It seems that every time McCain opens his mouth, he IS lying.

[newdreams]

McCain canned himself in this interview. He stated that he is all about 100% absolute truth, then a few sentences later he condemns Obama for pushing 'comprehensive' sex ed for kindergartners. Obama has never been for 'comprehensive' sex-ed curriculum for this age group, and McCain knows it.

IF McCain, for whatever reason didn't know this before the debates with Obama, Obama told him directly to his face that he was not. Without even looking deeply into this interview, McCain obviously lied at least one time.

[lvdragonlady]

For all intents and purposes, it appears that JM's campaign is telling him things, and being the lazy b@$t@rd that he is, he took the information face value and accepted it as truth.
This being the case, then it is fair to assume that if someone in his 'camp' made a derrogatory comment about a foreign country, instead of doing some fact checking, he would accept it a gospel which could very well put this country into further peril.....

Think about it America! Do you really want this man responsible for you life?

[SailFree]

Ah, but being inaccurate is NOT synonymous with lying.

The statements made in the campaign ads are factually correct as much as that can be evaluated. We've noted many times the ACTUAL WORDING IN THE SEX-ED bill which authorized "comprehensive sex education k-12." It was a TRUE ad. Obama's claim that it's not what he "meant" is irrelevant to the TRUTH of the ad.

And indeed, Obama's later statement during the Illinois senate campaign indicates that OBAMA IS NOW LYING,as he said the bill SHOULD authorize comprehensive sex ed.

But as noted elsewhere,TRUTH doesn't matter much to true believers. The CHURCH OF OBAMA dogma is set already and facts won't change it.

[pcplz]

THAT is the problem with you Rethugs. "Ah, but being inaccurate is NOT synonymous with lying." The "inaccuracies" are abundant!!

I am sorry, but my mom raised me to not lie.......I cannot even begin to think of what she would say if I said that it was ONLY an inaccuracy!!

A LIE IS A LIE!! There is no Church of Obama. Only more trust in Obama's truthfulness than the truthiness of McInaccurate.

[jorge4u]

And as Bush's adviser said in 2004, you need Prozac and relax.

[LeawoodKansas]

The PTA promoted the bill. That's the Parent/Teacher Association .... not the "People Touching Adolescents"

[Indieguy]

A public liars best friend is the MSM that is too timid to call him/her on it. How McCain can complain about press coverage is bewildering since he's been given a pass on most of his lies. Most of his negative press coverage has been the the result of his own gaffes.

[VegetableMan]

and that dare worked so well for gary hart, after all...

[XME]

Good...that was a dare if I ever heard one, and given his record, he deserved to be called out on such a claim.

[Independent voter]

McCain lies so often that he doesn't know when he's lying anymore. This is the trait of a pathological liar.

Here's a profound example from The Nation:
John McCain, who has risen to political prominence on his image as a Vietnam POW war hero, has, inexplicably, worked very hard to hide from the public stunning information about American prisoners in Vietnam who, unlike him, didn't return home. Throughout his Senate career, McCain has quietly sponsored and pushed into federal law a set of prohibitions that keep the most revealing information about these men buried as classified documents. Thus the war hero who people would logically imagine as a determined crusader for the interests of POWs and their families became instead the strange champion of hiding the evidence and closing the books.

[Whinger]

McCain clings on to the hope if he tells a lie often enough people will eventually accept it as truth!

He ignores that Karl Rove, of deniable lie fame, has spoken out and said McCains ads went too far!

[LMT]

GAWD! Now he's even lying about lying. Making Bush look like Honest Abe.

[RedKnuckles]

Well, for starters, he admitted lying about his age when he met Cindy. Of course, the bigger lie in his personal life is the way he dropped his first wife to chase her. The Register interview showed just who he is: an arrogant, irritable old man who can't even admit that his campaign is in complete disarray.

[nomorebologney]

what about mccains latest lies about 'suspending' his campaign ?

truth: his spokespeople STILL went out to cable news shows, he still ran ads, and his campaign offices were definitely still running. what EXACTLY did he suspend? someone should compile a FULL list of all his lies....

Here is McCain's exchange on "Fox & Friends," as released by the Fox News Channel:

HOST BRIAN KILMEADE: Right now a recent study says and the polls reflect that Barack Obama is gaining ever since this crisis has landed in everyone’s kitchen table, why is that?

McCAIN: Because life isn’t fair. ... He certainly did nothing for the first few days. I suspended my campaign, took our ads down, came back to Washington, met with the House folks and got on the phone, and also had face to face meetings.
.

[stardot]

Pants on fire. You know the rest.