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September 09, 2008

National Lie Detector

You may recall our recent post about the pervasive lying in the presidential campaign speeches and ads. There's a consumer protection agency but no voter protection agency.

In fact, as a society we are now apparently renaming "lying" to something more digestable: "stretching the truth", according to this article from the Washington Post.

"We have created a system where there is not a lot of shame in stretching the truth," said Charlie Cook, editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report."

Seth Godin's recent post shows he is equally ticked off about this.

"We value the truth and we enjoy it. And we're always wary about the occasional lie.That's why political season is just so w e i r d. The spinners lie constantly. They lie with a straight face. They lie sentence after sentence, relentlessly... I wonder if this election is going to mark the end of classic spin or the beginning of a whole new class of even slicker lying."

Since writing our post we've discovered a couple of sites that purport to help check the facts of the speeches and ads the presidential candidates put out. One is www.factcheck.org. The other is www. Politifact.com. Are they truly without bias? No way to know, but they're definitely a start.

The question is what percent of the country will bother to question and check the facts.
But what's interesting is what Godin writes next:

"And since most marketers follow the lead of politicians, I wonder what it means for the rest of us?"

Wait - marketers follow the lead of politicians? That's out of left field. We'd love to hear Seth elaborate on where he's getting that. How can marketers follow the lead of politicians? First of all, most business' customers vote every DAY with their pocketbook, not every two or four years, so it would seem difficult to pervasively lie and stay in business very long. Secondly, there are laws against such outright lies that businesses, unlike politicians, are held to.

Seth closes with a sentiment we can certainly relate with:

"All I know for sure is that it gives me a headache. I think there's a huge opportunity for a trusted media source that takes on spin from all quarters and throws it back in the face of the spinner. Show them video of themselves from last week and ask them to respond. Oh, I'm probably just being a hopeful idealist."

There is very little we know for sure when it comes to statements by our politicians. BUT - Let's all remember something: they wouldn't do it if we didn't let them get away with it. So we can't, in the end, point the finger at the politicians.

Posted by Jeff Small & Brett Astor at 12:30 PM | Permalink