The busted myths of 2010

[alp227]

The Washington Post looks back at the year in "misinformation, allegations and misperceptions":

- Investing in new technology is key to better security.
- Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts Senate race means health-care legislation is dead.
- Gay priests are to blame for the Catholic Church abuse scandal.
- Immigrants take jobs from American workers.
- Extending the Bush tax cuts would be a good way to stimulate the economy.
- The tea party is racist.
- The Iraq war will end "on schedule."
- Mosques lead to homegrown terrorism.
- The troops oppose repealing "don't ask, don't tell."
- Sarah Palin is unelectable.
- The North Koreans are crazy.

Regarding the Tea Party, the author of this article stated: "Liberal critics of the tea party argue that conservative opposition to social spending is often racially motivated. That's not new, though, and it's not the basis for the tea party."

It seems that all but 2 of these myths are perpetuated by the right wing.

[baldguy]

1. "The tea party is racist" is a *myth*?

Since when?

The control of govt spending isn't the "basis" of the Tea Party, it's that there's a black man in the White House.

[Denninmi]

3. Pretty much any teabagger I've met has been extremely racist.

They pretty much make Archie Bunker look like a symbol of tolerance.

[alp227]

7. the full explanation by the post

It's a phenomenon that some activists call "nutpicking" - send a cameraman into a protest, and he'll focus on the craziest sign. Yes, there are racists in the tea party, and they make themselves known. But tea party activists usually root them out. Texas activist Dale Robertson, who held a sign likening taxpayers to a racial epithet at a 2009 rally, was drummed out of that event and pilloried by his peers. Mark Williams, formerly the bomb-throwing spokesman for the Tea Party Express (he once told me he wanted to send the liberal watchdog group Media Matters "a case of champagne" for calling him racist), was booted after penning a parody that had the NAACP pining for slavery.

The summary is based on the August article "" by David Weigel. BTW, Weigel writes for The Washington Independent and The American Prospect, reports for MSNBC, and voted for Ralph Nader in 2000.

[LiberalFighter]

2. The Washington Post is an ethical newspaper.

[Fearless]

4. What exactly did Palin get elected to in 2010?

[Drale]

5. The North Koreans are crazy

Thats not a myth, thats truth. At least when it comes to what they call government over there.

[txlibdem]

6. So let's not F**K with them like we did last month with the "missile test" into their waters

They have nukes after all and if they're as crazy as you say, should we not back off a bit and give them a little space?

If they didn't have those nukes we would have been rolling tanks across their borders or launching wave after wave of drone attacks long before now. Hundreds if not thousands would die. Therefore, I am absolutely glad that N. Korea has those nukes.