Laura Bush and Karl Rove lie about approval ratings
To be fair, they might just be idiots instead of lying. Or both, which is the odds-on favorite.
Media Matters has caught two new ways in which the Bushies are spinning the historic lows of Fearless Leader's approval ratings.
1. Claim media bias-- no-one thought it was "news" when everyone liked Bush.
This is Laura's approach. Rather than address the issue, let's trot out a classic bogeyman-- "And I think, right now, what we're seeing with these poll numbers is a lot of fun in the press with taking a poll every other week and putting it on the news, on the front page of the newspaper. When his polls were really high, they weren't on the front page."
But the article cites nine front-page stories on Bush's high approval ratings from those "ultra-liberal" papers the New York Times and the Washington Post between 2002 and 2004. That's just from the two papers the right loves to demonize the most. She was speaking on Fox at the time, which undoubtedly pointed it out much more frequently.
2. Claim that "likability" equals blanket approval for Bush.
This is Rove's angle. He points out that Bush's "favorability" is up in "the 60s in some polls." As Media Matters notes, that hasn't been the case in more than a year. But it ignores a more obvious point-- that while some 30-40% of the public doesn't think Bush is an evil person, they openly "disapprove" of his policies.
As a staunch Christianist, Rove should be familiar with the concept of hating the sin, not the sinner. Unfortunately, the Bushies seem physically incapable of telling the truth.
Media Matters has caught two new ways in which the Bushies are spinning the historic lows of Fearless Leader's approval ratings.
1. Claim media bias-- no-one thought it was "news" when everyone liked Bush.
This is Laura's approach. Rather than address the issue, let's trot out a classic bogeyman-- "And I think, right now, what we're seeing with these poll numbers is a lot of fun in the press with taking a poll every other week and putting it on the news, on the front page of the newspaper. When his polls were really high, they weren't on the front page."
But the article cites nine front-page stories on Bush's high approval ratings from those "ultra-liberal" papers the New York Times and the Washington Post between 2002 and 2004. That's just from the two papers the right loves to demonize the most. She was speaking on Fox at the time, which undoubtedly pointed it out much more frequently.
2. Claim that "likability" equals blanket approval for Bush.
This is Rove's angle. He points out that Bush's "favorability" is up in "the 60s in some polls." As Media Matters notes, that hasn't been the case in more than a year. But it ignores a more obvious point-- that while some 30-40% of the public doesn't think Bush is an evil person, they openly "disapprove" of his policies.
As a staunch Christianist, Rove should be familiar with the concept of hating the sin, not the sinner. Unfortunately, the Bushies seem physically incapable of telling the truth.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 7:37 PM
<< Home