Blog Stage Three

Analysis: Untruths have consequences in Politics

Ron Fournier is the acting bureau chief for the Associated Press formally working as the AP’s chief political writer and online political editor. His background is extensive in the field of politics and, at one point in 2006, was asked to fill an “advisory role” in communications for John McCains presidential campaign. Ron Fournier is a knowledgeable and well respected individual in his field.(source: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ron_Fournier)

Recently Ron Fournier wrote the Opinion Article Analysis: Untruths have Consequences in Politics for the Associated Press on Sat, Feb 20th, 2010. (source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100220/ap_on_an/us_consequences_of_untruths_analysis) The main portion of the article written discusses Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and the truth, or lack there of, in several speeches given recently including highlights of a speech given this week at the Conservative Political Action Conference

The target audience upon first reading felt aimed at democrats as it had a majority of the article dedicated to a Republican who is a possible candidate for a presidential run in 2012 but upon further analysis the article appeals to all voters as a whole.

The articles main focus is on a speech given by Mitt Romney at the Conservative Political Action Conference this week. The author felt that the speech was filled with incorrect factual information when Mitt Romney was addressing Democrats and their political figureheads. The article, though, I feel lacks any concrete scientific data. Most of the bullet points brought up by the author can be viewed as being subjective or his interpretation of the points that Mitt Romney was trying to make. To combat this, the author could of included specific quotes by Mitt Romney or specific dates and events to back up his evidence or opinion that Mitt Romney was incorrect in the information he was disseminating during his speech. These items would of helped in a better side by side comparison on the search for the “real truth”.

Unfortunately, even though Mitt Romney is a large portion of the article, I believe the point of the article is to point out the inconsistencies that all politicians in todays current political climate are committing.

Ron Fournier stated, in reference to the inconsistencies of politicians the following:

“Such distortion and dishonesty cause Americans to be increasingly skeptical of — even cynical about — their political institutions and leaders. Once people lose faith in the political system, they're less likely to vote, less willing to pay taxes to support government-run programs, less motivated to run for office themselves and — sociologists say — they're even less likely to get involved in their own communities.”

This statement captures my feeling and the feeling of other voters perfectly. This article does not point out the incorrect factual information that Mitt Romney gave but it is using Mitt Romeny as an example of politicians overall that are in power right now in Washington, DC. It does not matter if the politician is a Republican or Democrat but all politicians are the same and we are given a choice between the better of “two evils” and, in this instance, I believe the article is successful in proving its point to the reader.