E. J. Dionne: Does the Truth Matter any More? Subtitled at Reddit.com, “Why is lying an acceptable tactic, asset, even, in campaigning for the most important job in the world? “
John McCain wasted all that time trying to control big money in politics and got slapped down by the courts.
Maybe he would have been better off passing legislation allowing the Federal Trade Commission to fine political campaigns for purveying obvious falsehoods in their advertisements. I’m not talking about claims over which there can be a reasoned dispute. I mean claims that are just obvious lies, about which all reasonable persons would agree as to their plain falsehood.
After all, food and drug companies are not allowed to make false claims on the public airwaves. Isn’t who is president potentially as vital a question for your health as whether Kevin Trudeau can lie to you in his infomercials?
The president of the United States can still start a nuclear war with an ill-considered policy, leaving tens of millions of people dead and threatening all life on earth with a nuclear winter.
That doesn’t deserve the slightest due diligence from our regulatory agencies?
Ironically, McCain, who once tried to reform political campaigns, is now the Kevin Trudeau of political commercials.