AP: The "Straight Talk Express" has detoured into doublespeak

[kpete]

Analysis: McCain's claims skirt facts, test voters

By CHARLES BABINGTON – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The "Straight Talk Express" has detoured into doublespeak.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain, a self-proclaimed tell-it-like-it-is maverick, keeps saying his running mate, Sarah Palin, killed the federally funded Bridge to Nowhere when, in fact, she pulled her support only after the project became a political embarrassment. He accuses Democrat Barack Obama of calling Palin a pig, which did not happen. He says Obama would raise nearly everyone's taxes, when independent groups say 80 percent of families would get tax cuts instead.

Even in a political culture accustomed to truth-stretching, McCain's skirting of facts has stood out this week. It has infuriated and flustered Obama's campaign, and campaign pros are watching to see how much voters disregard news reports noting factual holes in the claims.

McCain's persistence in pushing dubious claims is all the more notable because many political insiders consider him one of the greatest living victims of underhanded campaigning. Locked in a tight race with George W. Bush for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000, McCain was rocked in South Carolina by a whisper campaign claiming he had fathered an illegitimate black child and was mentally unstable.

Shaken by the experience, McCain denounced less-than-truthful campaigning. Vowing to live up to his "straight talk" motto, he apologized for his reluctance to criticize the flying of the Confederate flag at South Carolina's state Capitol in a bid for votes. When the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth attacked the military record of Democrat and fellow Navy officer John Kerry in 2004, McCain called the ads "dishonest and dishonorable."

more at:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jMtvzhUJmkDwVPsjJ0vhp-MDl1-gD934RHCG0

Doublespeak (sometimes double talk) is language constructed to disguise or distort its actual meaning, often resulting in a communication bypass. Doublespeak may take the form of bald euphemisms (e.g., "downsizing" for layoffs) or deliberate ambiguity. Doublespeak is a disparaging label for any euphemistic term perceived to be uttered in bad faith.<1>

[NewJeffCT]

1. Wow, some good articles from the AP this week

They must have gotten the hint over Fournier and a few others?

[whistle]

2. To McCain doublespeak is "Straight Talk" in plural form

[Arrowhead2k1]

3. I think everyone with half a brain is getting sick and tired of the childish bullshit coming

out of the right.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

9. Yep, I think that critical mass is about reached. The media smells prey now

in Palin. Combine that with McDouche's thuggian approach to media relations and you have some beatdown coming.

[rurallib]

4. Isn't Babbington the one whose story KO tore up?

[Avalux]

7. Yes - I can't believe he wrote this.

Are some perhaps having a moment of conscience? Realizing they GOP has gone a bit to far this time?

[The Magistrate]

5. The Fact Is, Sir, McCain Is A Liar And A Rat

He professed an inability to define honor in a recent interview, and his behavior demonstrates that ignorance comes from the heart: he cannot define honor because he has none.

[dchill]

11. McCain is such a Liar (with a capital "L")

that I'm becoming quite sure that he is no longer capable of simple truth. Rats, however, have more honor than Dishonest John, and should therefore be spared the ignominy of comparison.

[The Magistrate]

13. Fair Enough, Sir

[rebel with a cause]

14. You are right, he is a liar!!!!!

Double speak is a way of white washing lying. I learned this a long time ago, when I was told to write reports in a certain way so that they could be read two different ways. It is a way of saying that he didn't tell the whole truth but he didn't lie. That is the way the average person will take this term, that mccain is talking out both sides of his mouth, but that is not exactly out and out lying. JMHO and I could be wrong.

[C_U_L8R]

6. That's what happens when Straight Talk starts speaking in tongues

[Duer 157099]

8. New bumper sticker: "Double Speak, Double Trouble"

McCain/Palin: Double Speak, Double Trouble

[Beetwasher]

10. Whoa!! How Did This Sneak Past Fournier????

Or is all the pressure and focus on him having an effect?

[Ikonoklast]

12. Johnnie let Sarah drive the bus for him, while he took it easy

Thinking how just how smart he was, what a maverick, Palin was a masterstroke, wait a minute, why is it so wet in here?

[crickets]

15. It's so refreshing

to see journalists do their jobs for a change. Wonder of wonders, McCain is actually being held to account for lying. It would be nice if it keeps up, at least for a while.