A story teaching us to be suspicious of the titles of organizations whose names are a trifle too true-blue:
An attack ad in the [Louisiana] governor’s race was pulled from airwaves Friday after claiming Edwards’ military buddy landed a contract worth up to $65 million, even though the contract was never awarded.
Truth in Politics, a 501(c)(4) co-founded by GOP donor Lane Grigsby, launched the attack ad, which claims that after Edwards was elected, “backroom deals begin” and that his roommate at West Point, Murray Starkel, “lands a state contract worth up to $65 million.”
But the contract in question, for coastal restoration work, was never awarded to any of the four bidders who were deemed qualified, including Starkel’s firm, Ecological Service Partners, LLC. [The Advocate]
Truth In Politics, eh? That’s a name that soothes the nerves and practically shouts Let’s drain the swamp, doesn’t it? But wait, it gets better!
Truth in Politics spokesman Jay Connaughton, in a lengthy statement, appeared to stand by the ad and said “just highlighting one project that didn’t move forward is misleading,” calling the deal “shady.” The ad only references the $65 million project, however, and the ad was replaced with a new version. The new spot changed the wording from Starkel landing a contract to his being “poised to cash in.”
To me, that says that in Truth In Politics’ frenzy to splash mud on Democratic Governor Edwards during his re-election bid, truth has been thrown under the bus; victory is all.
Now, perhaps my cynical reader will shrug and says this happens all the time. However, to my jaundiced eye, Truth In Politics has an implicit promise in its name. A message from the RNC (Republican National Committee) or the DNC (guess) can be expected to shade the truth a little bit, because they are obviously partisan organizations, and while I’d like to see them be truthful, human nature being what it is, blah blah blah.
But when someone says Truth In Politics, well, I expect them to step forward and be truthful. Not just make shit up, not be right on 80% of the facts and wrong on that one critical fact that makes the whole piece into a shameful pill of false blame.
I expect them to live up to their name to the best of their abilities, not frantically defend their piece when even those bastions of low standards, revenue hungry TV stations, won’t run the damn ad.
Spokesman Connaughton and whoever runs Truth In Politics (some dude named Grigsby, apparently) should be utterly embarrassed and ashamed at this behavior, but they won’t be. They’ve swallowed, hook, line, and sinker, the old lie that Victory is the only thing. I would hate to know them on a personal level because, based on this behavior, I would know that I couldn’t trust them. They’d use illegal foils on the piste, they’d move the chess pieces when you’re not looking, they’d rig every game they play, and they’d have that pathetic excuse.
And now I’ll know never to trust anything Truth In Politics puts out.
