Taking quotes out of context, and often using selective editing such as with the “didn’t build that” misquotation, is a common tactic used by the right wing media, and a tactic which pathological liar Romney frequently utilizes. How do you know when Mitt Romney is lying? One clue is that his mouth is moving. How do you know when conservatives are lying about what Obama said or believes? David Weigel has a way to determine this–if it is a weekday. (I’m not sure why he excludes the weekends). Weigel writes It’s a Weekday, So It’s Time for Another Misleading Edit of an Obama Quote.
Here’s the right wing out of context version:
Just like we’ve tried their plan, we tried our plan—and it worked. That’s the difference. That’s the choice in this election. That’s why I’m running for a second term.
Here’s what Obama actually said:
I’ll cut out government spending that’s not working, that we can’t afford, but I’m also going to ask anybody making over $250,000 a year to go back to the tax rates they were paying under Bill Clinton, back when our economy created 23 million new jobs, the biggest budget surplus in history and everybody did well. Just like we’ve tried their plan, we tried our plan — and it worked. That’s the difference. That’s the choice in this election. That’s why I’m running for a second term.
Weigel concludes: “So the truncated version of the Obama quote is insanely misleading. At best, it’ll only appear in $10.4 million or so of TV ads.”
Considering how frequently Romney distorts Obama’s views in his speeches, I wonder how long it will be until Romney picks up on this one.
