Isn't There a Law Against That?

Since I wrote on my blog the essay entitled, "'Tis the Season For . . . Political E-Mails" at www.swoopsfromsnowyowl.blogspot.com/2010/05/tis-season-for-political-e-mails.html, I realized that there really shouldn't have to be places like Politifact and Factcheck. After all, there are laws against false advertising and telling lies . . . isn't there? Well, as it turns out . . . there are not! At least not for politicians. You can't tell a lie about a refrigerator, but a politician can not only lie about himself but his opponent, too. They call it "Freedom of Speech." Therefore, there is a demand and a desire for websites that can catch these politicians in their lies and point them out to us. In fact, politicians have a legal right to lie to their constituents as much as they wish.

Candidates can legally lie about ALMOST anything they want, and the law requires broadcasters who run candidate ads, to show them uncensored, even if the station knows their content to be FALSE or MISLEADING. Rejecting an ad from a candidate simply because it is FALSE is not allowed and not LEGAL. It is called "Free Speech" and it is guaranteed in the Constitution, First Amendment!

There are a few . . . very few . . . states that have laws against politicians running for state offices fabricating facts and lying about themselves and/or, their opponents. These laws have not been very successful in decreasing lies in political ads except the very blatant ones.

So, that is why we have :
http://www.politifact.com/, http://www.factcheck.org/, http://www.truthorfiction.com/, http://www.snopes.com/, and http://www.ask.com/. That is why it is up to you to do your own investigations, and do it for both sides of the political equation. You might be surprised that your guy/gal is lying too. It might give you a different perspective on politics and politicians.

If you want to check out a few emails that have recently come out, you might want to check this link:
www.factcheck.org/ask-factcheck/hot-topics/
It will direct you to several new emails and political lies of which you may not yet be aware. Don't get taken in by politicians and political groups that only have their own best interests at heart. There are a lot of politicians out there and a lot of liars, too.