Is POLITICO Working For Grayson Now?

It's pretty clear to everybody these days that candidates love to cut quotes from respected news sources to use in commercials and mailers. They cut the quotes which favor them, and cut the quotes which malign their opponents.  Quotes from reliable news sources add credibility to the ad because the practice borrows the integrity of the news source and lends legitimacy to the campaign.  Unless, of course that news source is a certain quote from this recent article in POLITICO.

While POLITICO is certainly a respected authority most of the time, in this article it seems they let their journalistic values slide a bit by publishing spin as if it was fact.

Here is a quote from an article at POLITICO, which I'm sure Trey Grayson would like to clip and spread around. It talks about Grayson's new attack ad directed at Rand Paul:

POLITICO states as if it is fact that Paul called for "Al Qaeda terrorists to be dropped off back in Afghanistan."  But they cite no source for that statement other than "archival footage".

There is a huge journalistic problem with this however.  Grayson has tried to portray the footage in this light, but Paul has repeatedly called Grayson's attack ads "intellectually dishonest" and out of context spin. 

By not quallifying the statement with something to the effect that "Grayson suggests" POLITICO has elevated what Paul contends is Grayson's spin to the level of a trustworthy source,  which is more than slightly disturbing.

Paul insists that the footage referred to shows him answering a voter's question about how to deal with those prisoners who cannot be convicted of terrorism, as was the case with the Chinese Uighurs who were sent to Bermuda. Paul says when the entire clip is played, not just one part out of context, it is clear he was not talking about releasing "Al Qaeda Terrorists" back to the battlefield.

We've all seen the press help the left before, and though POLITICO has been more balanced in many respects than the rest of the mainstream media, this kind of behavior deserves to be called out too, regardless whether the source leans left or right.

And that is true even if calling them out has to be done by a "harmless little fuzzball" like me, on a farm in Kentucky,  who just happens to be paying attention.

Comments

[marvin hankel]

Politico is controled by McConnell and Rupert Murdoch.

Trey Grayson derives from his Harvard-Cecil Rhode's teachings of elitist socialism and, the Zionist one worlders and, the global banksters.

What do you expect? Do you really expect the truth?

[RandFan]

You know what? I have been reading your blog about this race and you seem willing to call them as you see them. Eventhough I am a Rand Paul supporter, and your comments on his campaign are not always flattering, I have to admit that I agree with you more times than not.

This is definitely one of the best websites for political coverage in the nation.

Keep up your good work. I wish you great success.

[Doug]

Nice reporting, it is because of sites like this that the MSM lies are being exposed.

[George]

I heard him talking about these things back then, and he didn't say that we should release terrorists (unless perhaps he mis-spoke somewhere, since many people mis-speak once in a while.) I think I remember him saying that we shouldn't hold innocent people in jail, and that makes sense to me.

His site says what he believes. I think any intelligent person would know you can't trust out of context statements from opponents who are behind in the polls.

[Frank]

Honestly I've watched every clip I can find of Rand's Paducah Q&A and I can't find any mention of Uighurs anywhere. None from Rand or from a member of the crowd asking the question...

If you know where to find it please post a link.