Wow — it’s about time for a whole new respect for the factcheckers of the world, and the hope that they begin to have more of a voice. This campaign has been such a vast minefield of outright lies that the election itself may boost the economy by creating debunking jobs.
Now, this little editorial comes from Democratic Underground, a site which — while wonderfully amusing — is obviously stupendously biased (at least, on the correct side). Nonetheless, the anecdote has been verified. Read on and snicker.
While discussing race issues, John Kerry reminded America that “This president is the first president ever, I think, not to meet with the NAACP. This is a president who hasn’t met with the Black Congressional Caucus. This is a president who has not met with the civil rights leadership of our country.”
Grinning, Dubya responded, “Well, first of all, it is just not true that I haven’t met with the Black Congressional Caucus. I met with the Black Congressional Caucus at the White House.”
Now, to be uncharacteristically fair and balanced, I should point out that while John Kerry is right about George W. Bush not meeting with the NAACP, he was not entirely correct – George W. Bush has met with the Congressional Black Caucus. But the story of that meeting is actually quite interesting.
Last February, after their repeated requests to meet with the president to discuss Haiti were denied, members of the Congressional Black Caucus decided to show up at the White House anyway. About 20 members of the caucus were subsequently greeted by Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice (pandering, much?) who told the lawmakers that – sorry – the president was not at home.
So the CBC simply refused to leave. And guess what? Fifteen minutes later, after presumably realizing that he couldn’t hide out in the Lincoln Bedroom’s ensuite bathroom all day, George showed up. And that was that.
Oh yes – one more thing. After pretending he wasn’t at home and then grudgingly meeting with the CBC, the White House issued a statement saying Bush “welcomed the opportunity” to visit with them. What a bunch of crap.
