The problem is that Jack Webb's Sgt. Joe Friday never actually said those words.
This election cycle, the fact checkers of the media have become a . Much like our Sgt. Friday's catch phrase, the inclination has been that if you repeat a lie often and loudly, it becomes enough like truth to pass the sniff test. Some of the biggest moments in Republican and Democratic stump speeches are entirely comprised of this same kinds of mushy truths. We didn't get a beauty of a phrase like "Lyin' Ryan" for nothing!
One of the points that was contested on both sides of the aisle came from Senator Paul Ryan's speech at the RNC. This is a good timeline. In his speech, Mr. Ryan suggested that President Obama had broken a promise to the people of Janesville, WI by not saving a GM plant that he visited. Specifically, Ryan said:
“Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said: ‘I believe that if our government is there to support you this plant will be here for another hundred years.’ That’s what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn’t last another year.”
The problem with that statement is that the plant closed in December of 2008. Below is the photo of the closing ceremony for that plant. Notice the date?
So, we're done here, right? Ryan is wrong. Well, not quite. It would seem that the plant kept some employees through April of 2009, as there were a few outstanding orders for parts and those orders were filled in Janesville. That date was on President Obama's watch. Even if GM made the decision to close the plant in February 2008, there were still people in the building over a year later. If there were still employees, the logic goes, the plant wasn't closed. GM says the plant is on stand-by, so maybe there's still hope. It would seem Ryan is not wrong, right?
Well, what about the actual words from President Obama's speech. Let's look at those to see if there was a promise in the first place.
”I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years.”
I don't see the word "promise."
So what the heck is going on here? Is this another Jack Webb issue where it seems like it might be true so it is?
I have a 7 year old daughter and sometimes when you say something like "if we have time, we'll stop for ice cream" she will take that as a promise. I feel like it was taken as a promise every time Obama said the name Janesville in just that same way. Ryan tried to save the plant. The unions tried to save the plant. I am not sure how much sway the President could or should have had to make GM change their mind about what was happening at that location. This business about how there were still employees at the shop in April 2009, seems like grasping at straws. The remaining staff were there to close the operations down. The concert was over but Elvis had not yet left the building.
With facts like these, who needs lies? If you were trying to figure out the truth, you'd likely have to ask yourself two questions. Where do you start? More importantly, where do you stop?
On the Media has a really wonderful Podcast on the topic, if you have the time to listen. You can cut to the chase a bit here, too. During an interview with the New Yorker's Peter Cranby on how to do a good job of fact checking, he spoke of "reporting in reverse." In other words, he says, "we take stories apart and try to put them back together again." I agree with Mr. Cranby, but can't help but wonder what to do if there are missing pieces, or just as likely, a few bits left over at the bottom of the box.
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