Fact-checking has enjoyed quite a renaissance over the past seven years or so. Like since 2015. There’s lots to choose from, but for the sake of time, we’ll remind you of two particularly fine fact-checks by the fine folks at PolitiFact.
There was their fact-check of Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo, whose claims about U.S. oil imports from Russia were declared “Mostly False” despite the fact that, as PolitiFact themselves acknowledged, she was right.
Seriously — is fact-checking dead? pic.twitter.com/l4YTf86850
— David Martosko 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@dmartosko) March 1, 2022
They also tackled Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s accurate remark that Virginia is one of only a handful of states that tax veterans’ retirement. They were somewhat easier on him, declaring his statement “Half True.”
from earlier today … pic.twitter.com/KBKCkQsTsr
— 🍺 Vaxxed and Relaxed 🍻 (@PorterPints) March 1, 2022
If not for Republicans, we don’t know what PolitFact would do with their time. A few more recent examples:
- PolitiFact rules Gov. DeSantis’ 100% accurate statement on jobs in Florida is only ‘half true’
- PolitiFact picks as its lie of year ‘claims downplaying the realities and significance of the Capitol insurrection’
- ‘Comment? Retraction? Apology?’ PolitiFact rightly called out for BS fact-check on Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears’ Critical Race Theory claim
To be fair, Democrats are also the subject of PolitiFact fact-checks — when Republicans or conservatives criticize them, at least. For example:
Readers are well aware that there are plenty more examples of both types of fact-checks where those came from.
Anyway, country star John Rich is neither a politician nor a journalist nor a professional fact-checker, but he’s been watching and observing and he thinks he may have solved the mystery of how fact-checking became so popular and interesting:
Fact checkers never existed until the truth started coming out.
— John Rich (@johnrich) February 28, 2022
We’re not going to speak for him, but we feel pretty comfortable getting the impression that Rich isn’t actually suggesting that fact-checking is a novel thing that didn’t exist until relatively recently. However, if we consider the sort of journalism that’s presented as “fact-checking” these days, we’d say that Rich might be onto something.
Hey, Asshat, what the hell is that supposed to mean? Do you have any clue? Or is that a lyric from one of your country "songs"?
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) February 28, 2022
We’re not sure what’s so difficult for Keith Olbermann to understand. Then again, he’s not known for his intellect. What the hell John Rich’s tweet is supposed to mean is that fact-checking didn’t matter much to the Left until they had to contend with critics speaking inconvenient truths. In the grand scheme of things, he’s not wrong. Far too many current-day “fact-checkers” follow PolitiFact’s model and try to discredit or shut down Republicans or conservatives who say something true and try to run interference for Democrats and liberals whose lies and flaws are exposed.
Obviously there are exceptions, but by and large, the art of “fact-checking” has become about little more than carrying the Left’s water. Keith Olbermann et al. can fact-check that as much as they want, but if they’re being honest, they’ll find that Rich’s statement is pretty darn compelling.
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