Politifact Calls Lawrence O‘Donnell’s MSNBC ‘Lean Forward’ Ad ‘Mostly False’
- Posted on February 19, 2012 at 7:08pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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MSNBC has once again found itself at odds with the fact-checking website Politifact.com
One of the latest ads in the network’s “Lean Forward” campaign, a string of overtly partisan rants from primetime hosts, has Last Word anchor Lawrence O’Donnell making the case for the G I bill as “the most successful educational program that we’ve ever had in this country” which O’Donnell claims was criticized by opponents as welfare.
Politifact analysis has determined O‘Donnell’s statement to be “mostly false.”
“We found no evidence of critics referring to the GI Bill as welfare. Yet some fretted that the law’s unemployment compensation element would encourage laziness. We see a touch of truth to O’Donnell’s claim, which we rate Mostly False.”
Politifact’s decision was based on the Veterans Administration’s online history of the 1944 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act which did not include anything on the act’s progress through Congress or any related criticism, and an American Legion post on a 1949 article from a Washington reporter who found that critics worried the law would attract “the lazy and ‘chisely’ types of veterans,” but nothing on welfare. A Binghamton University professor and author of a book on the subject also told Politifact that no critics called the GI Bill “welfare,” but some admirers later considered the law a welcome step toward the United States becoming more of a social-welfare state.
Politifact reports that a producer of O’Donnell’s program suggested in a memo that objections in the American Legion article and 1944 Congressional Record mentioning “relief” or “the dole,” were equivalent to modern-day references to welfare.
The cable news network has criticized rulings by the Pulitzer prize-winning website in the past.
MSNBC host Rachel Maddow has become particularly frustrated with the organization for their analyses on President Obama’s State of the Union address claims, Sen. Marco Rubio’s claim that the”majority of Americans are conservative,“ and the organization’s own criticism of statements made by Maddow during the Wisconsin labor protests.
New York Times columnist Paul Krugman and MSNBC host Ed Schultz among many other leftist commentators were infuriated when the nonpartisan fact-checking site dared to rule attacks against Republican Rep. Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan the 2011 “Lie of the Year.”
Despite liberal outcry, “The Fact Checker” blog of The Washington Post sided with Politifact.
MSNBC launched their “Lean Forward” ads last year, aimed at advancing the issues championed by the network’s personalities. The ads have become somewhat of a running gag.
Video of the latest Lawrence O’Donnell ad called into question:
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Comments (61)
UnseenAmerican
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 6:41amLawrence , Sean , Rachel , Gretta, Chris, Glenn, Bill, Ed…whose telling the truth depends on who you ask. All of them have spewed half truths…none have come clean.
Report Post »bigspike
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 6:18ammsdnc’s plan for America? ‘leaning forward’ while standing at the edge of a cliff
Report Post »dawg71
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 2:15amAll the nimrods on MSNBC call themselves journalist even though none of them, actually hold degrees in Journalism. At least the popular ones, which means those folks who have more then a dozen viewers….
Report Post »Crush_Liberalism
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 10:27amIt amuses me to no end to see these liberal hacks get their panties in a bunch when someone DARES expose them as the disgusting slugs that they are. I absolutely LOVE it!!!!
Report Post »dawg71
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 2:01amHow is this called a news channel, seriously???
Report Post »dawg71
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 1:56amMost of What MSNBC reports is Mostly False. The critics he speaks of are most likely mean old Republicans. The problem is the GI bill was first drafted by Harry W. Colmery, Former Chairman of the Republican National Commitee in 1944.
Report Post »devan95
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:57pmNothing better demonstrates what a fascist pig O‘Donnell is than his attack on decorated war veteran John O’Neill:
Report Post »http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8zbv7I6cTs
The-Monk
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:34pmAt first I thought “LEAN FORWARD” stood for, “Lean Forward and grab your ankles… your about to be screwed.”
Report Post »Then I realized that “LEAN” stood for, “Liberals Educating American Neanderthals”. Same thing I guess.
That’s how they see us; Neanderthals that need educating. LEAN Forward? Not in my lifetime! I’m not even going to give you a reach-around. I’m going to smack you back to the Stone Age where all you progressive, socialist, commie Marxist belong.
Hey Obama, say hello to my little friend… it’s called Freedom and the US Constitution. Go back to Kenya and take Pelosi, Reid and the rest, including John McCain, with you. You’re not welcome here anymore.Oh, don’t forget to take Valerie Jarrett and Van Jones with you.You’ll need them back in Kenya.Your “Dreams of my Father” are not MY “Dreams of My Father”…..
PATTY HENRY
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:40pmI love you MONK!!! DITTO!!!
Report Post »Ghandi was a Republican
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:47pm<<< Like this ?
Report Post »Pouncing Porcupine
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:50pmThe GI bill is a double edged sword. A lot of people joined up to get their “free” education, only to be killed in action. It is right for the nation to finance our soldiers’ educations, but what I resent is when they piss and moan about being deployed into combat when all they signed up for was the free education and training. A lot of them complain, even though they knew full well when they signed up that it could cost them their very lives.
Report Post »Pouncing Porcupine
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:52pm@Ghandi
Report Post »Did you rip that off from a WBC sign?
Thevoice
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:57pmThe commie propaganda spots are just hysterical except there is some dumb weak minded idiot who I guess falls for the crap. ..The MSNBC boy/girl dressing like a construction worker getting to wear a hard hat probably got wet. The ready to explode fat head union thug wanna bee Ed Schultz and the circus clown Sharpton . The dream team of Barrack Hussein Obama‘s daddy’s wet dreams. Modern age communist fondling themselves to climax on a broken ideology.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 12:43am@PATTY HENRY
Report Post »A great big DITTO back at you…. In MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) when your opponent “leans forward” it means his head and upper body is exposed. Do the right thing and end the match ASAP. Let’s take these people like Bernanke and Geithner down and never let them rise back up. It’s time to get the USA back where She belongs… #1, no debt and China begging for our exports. Iran with no nukes and “Jihadist” Muslims out of the US and our schools. Close our Southern boarders, stop the drug trafficking and the Mexican cartel violence. Take Holder to Guantanamo Bay and let him rot there for a while. Hold trials for treason, convict the SOB’s and put them in prison. Clean the White House of every Sal Alinsky book and teach the US Constitution in grade school. Let’s get America back to where it was; where it belongs. I watched the movie Braveheart last night…. FREEDOM!!!
carbonyes
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 1:49amThe lean forward applies to Maddow, O’Donnell, Big “fatass” Ed, Sharpton and Mathews for starters. Because of their lying, deceiving, ignorant ways, we are to grab a piece of birch wood 1″ x 2 1/2″ x 3‘ and when they bend over lace those sob’s on their behinds until they have tears dripping on the floor. Not a sadist, but none of them evidently got their butts whipped when they were kids, and it is quite evident by their lame brained, ignorant ways that need something to shake their thinking up, and since their brain is in their hind end, maybe we could drive it back to where it belongs – between their ears.
Report Post »carbonyes
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 1:54amTHE MONK, Amen to post No. 1 & No. 2. Man the battle ships and full speed ahead! Time to rock and roll. Enough talk: let‘s get’r done!
Report Post »zorro
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 10:28amPouncing Porcupine
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:50pm
The GI bill is a double edged sword. A lot of people joined up to get their “free” education, only to be killed in action. It is right for the nation to finance our soldiers’ educations, but what I resent is when they piss and moan about being deployed into combat when all they signed up for was the free education and training. A lot of them complain, even though they knew full well when they signed up that it could cost them their very lives.
————————————————————————————-
I don’t believe that many people join because they love their country. Many of us do it for the “free” education – which is actually not free at all but part of our pay. Regardless, the military did make me care for the country and changed me in a way I’m very thankful for. But you’re right…there are those who take advantage of the system. In the military, I saw people go to school full time while the rest of us got stuck pulling their slack. I would get tagged to deploy because others were “going to school”. And I’ll never forget one particular Airman who had kid after kid after kid after kid. She was always either pregnant or post-natal and therefore, not eligible for any deployments. I was in Combat Comm so we deployed a lot. But not these folks. I suppose I could have taken advantage too but it just didn’t feel right.
Report Post »Thevoice
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:08pmWhat the hell is this “New age progressive commie” so bent up about…Joe Biden just told us a week ago they, the left are proud of keeping 9 million drunk and intoxicated in college now on the tax payer dime . so they don’t show up on Fearless leaders Obama unemployment numbers….
Report Post »Thevoice
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:16pmAnother way to look at it …Would be to wonder if his daddy would have taken the G.I bill if he knew his offspring would turn out to be a commie.
Report Post »its_time_to_arrest_our_government
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:38pmLean forward? they really mean bend over. now that we know media matters and the Obama admin are the same voice. they are all George Soros bought and paid for propaganda mills. you can bet it they say it its not the truth, its nothing but garbage put out to get their way. we need to do what they do to others. lets go after their advertisers like the left does. We can play their games too……..
Report Post »RebelYell1862
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 10:42pm@Phychosis Sorry buddy, I ran off at the mouth before I knew what I was talking about. There was only one man who was perfect and I don’t even come close to him.
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 10:17pmLawrence who?
Report Post »Twisted pretzel logic, is what I heard in that ad.
65Mustang
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 9:52pmEverything Lawrence O”Donnell says is a joke. He is so serious when he spews his lies on the Obama cable channel that he actually believes he is important to society.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 10:25pmI agree with Politifact. Nobody of consequence called the GI Bill “welfare.” It’s not welfare. Agreed. But the VA, which provides medical services for veterans is pure socialistic medicine. The government owns the hospitals and pays the doctors. And the treatment is paid for by, guess who? – taxpayers. That is socialism in it’s purest form.
Government socialism via the VA is creeping into every aspect of lives, like Sharia law. The government has already taken over health care for veterans, now they are taking over education for veterans? If these veterans were real Americans, they wouldn’t accept the indoctrination of the nanny state, a government whose real agenda is to make veterans dependant on them, enslave them in fact, so that when the inevitable overthrow of Democracy in our country takes place, the veterans will be beholden to President (soon to be Dictator) Obama, having been brainwashed and bought by him.
Having an education thanks to the GI Bill, they will be even more capable of helping with the overthrow of the government and the enslavement of the population of the United States of America. Like Saddam’s soldiers who protected him until the end, our soldiers will know they have special privileges like education and health care, and so they will want to preserve their privileged status and will protect themselves and their children during Obama’s coup.
Report Post »seeker9
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 10:43pm@JZS
Report Post »Are you the original JZS (Latin speaking)? Sounds as though your logic (or mind) has flipped.
Hayabusa
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 8:19am@JZS,
so·cial·ism/ˈsōSHəˌlizəm/
Noun:
A political and economic theory of that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated…
(in Marxist theory) A transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism.
Medical coverage is not provided to all veterans, only retired or disabled veterans. The only covered expenses are service-connected disabilities or issues the veteran pays for to be covered (this is insurance is provided to retirees for at a submarket rate). I’m not sure how you get covering medical expenses for these veterans is socialism. It should be obvious that those who are disabled from their service to this country ought to be covered for their service-connected disabilities. I could see an argument for not providing for retirees though I personally feel it’s small compensation for 20 years of sacrifice.
Now the GI Bill is intended to help transition GIs back to the private sector as few military skills translate to meaningful civil sector skills. Most GIs are intelligent enough or have solid enough values to not buy into the propaganda of colleges or they simply attend schools or participate in degree programs where that is not much, if at all, an issue.
Report Post »skimmer57
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 9:16amJZS– Your posts are so far over the heads of these people it’s funny as hell. Keep it up!
Report Post »RebelYell1862
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 9:46pmApologies “Psychosis”, misread your statement. My fault.
Report Post »tajloc
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 9:32pmPaul / paul 2012
Report Post »MrButcher
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:54pmFree (higher) education for all Americans? Sure.
The education racket needs to collapse along with the economic racket that currently pervades our dead culture.
The GI Bill is not equivalent to Obamacare.
Report Post »drago
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 10:59pmOh look, its mr.butcher aka encinom……f-n idiot.
Report Post »GeorgieJo
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 11:26pmObummerCareless will kill people equally.
Report Post »dadsrootbeer
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:42pmThat’s the definition of propaganda. It’s always false.
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:31pmWhen I look at the photo of Lumpy Odonnell, I swear he is the kid in my third grade class who ate crayons, paste, and chalk during art class.
Report Post »Different name, but it would partially explain why he is such an idiot.
BLAZINGTRUTH
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:30pmWhat a bunch of crybabies-losers-liars that bunch is! From spittlelips chris to rev. DULLton, all posing in suits as if they are respectable human beings with something intelligent to say. Daily they all “LEAN FORWARD” so much that they become UNSTABLE, and fall on their faces-pitiful! Bunch of overpaid imposters. How can any organization continue to employ these people?
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:20pmSo I guess watching MSNBC and reading the NY Times actually makes you dumber…Who knew…
Report Post »TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:09pmCan’t count how many times on the internet as a whole, I’ve seen the left (to include the Ron Paul left) describe members of the Military and Retirees as being mere “on the dole” government workers sucking off the teet of hardworking tax paying Americans. Unbelievable. There has been a few of Paul’s anti-Military dim-wits right here on The Blaze stating that. You can spin it Paul groupies, argue it, deny it… but the facts are the facts. I’ve seen it.
Report Post »Komponist-ZAH
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:43pm“government workers sucking off the teet of hardworking tax paying Americans”
Well, not a “Paul groupie”, but isn’t this technically true? By which I mean, aren‘t military personnel paid with funds aquired from the productive economy by the state’s coercive powers?
Report Post »TIME_2_END_THE_PAUL_CAMPAIGN_IN_12
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:51pmI’ll answer your question like this ZAH. The government sets the pay for the military, the government pays the military and tax payers fund the government so that they can pay for the military. Keep in mind military members pay taxes as well so they themselves are paying a portion of their own pay checks.
Report Post »NoNannyState4me
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 9:21pm“I will answer your question like this…”
Haha, nice work. Not.
Report Post »seeker9
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:03pmThe msnbc hacks are the “hit squad” for the Demo-marxist party.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:17pmYes .. that is why they are also called MSDNC!
Report Post »thegodfather
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:03pmMSNBC’s new campaign….“Lie Forward”
Report Post »tatonka49
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 9:55pmare you kidding me “Lie Forward” How about “Bent Over”…….
Report Post »cookcountypatriot
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:01pmlarry is a progressive white slave…and a liar
Report Post »hillbillyinny
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 9:45pmLarry, by his own declaration, is a socialist! Not by his own definition, he’s very stupid!
Report Post »Lloyd Drako
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 7:57pmThe concept of “welfare” scarcely existed in the 1940s. Virtually no one criticized the World War II GI Bill, which has been described by historian William O’Neill as “the brightest thing Congress ever did.”
Report Post »Baja
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 7:54pmNo surprise here. I have a feeling if the liberal media outlets had all their stories fact checked, fact checking sources would establish Laurie O’Donnel and the rest as tabloid reporters. Then again, libs, aren’t to be bothered with facts.
Report Post »Exrepublisheep
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 7:40pmSo I went to Politifact and there were bad ratings for the Chamber of Commerce and for Sanotrum also. Strangely enough that news didn’t make the Blaze…hmmmmmmm
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 7:53pmShhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Don’t tell everyone the BLAZE has an agenda/ After all we would not want the truth to get out.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:03pmso is this site supposed to mirror politifact ??????
you may need your hand held to direct you to research and information that is elsewhere, but most of the readers here can do it by themselves
methinks the fault lies with you
Report Post »SoupSandwich
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 8:20pmWait. There are other sites and means for information other than here? Do any of them support Paul at all?
Report Post »RebelYell1862
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 9:20pmYou liberal trolls don’t have a life and have to hang out here with people who actually have some sense. Take your ass back to huffy puffy and tell them they won’t win this war. Take ‘baddoggy” with you. Your kind needs all the trashy progressive lackeys they can find. “psychosis” go with them.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on February 19, 2012 at 9:41pm@ rebel yell
why should i go with them??? i merely pointed out that most readers here dont need their hand held like exrepublisheep and baddoggy does
p.s. they cant stand it when i slap them around on the huffy n puffy
Report Post »Theodwulf
Posted on February 20, 2012 at 5:26amGlenn has always said to cheak facts for YOURSELF, that you should NOT just rely on his words. I am guessing that Philosophy extends to the Blaze as well, for the dum-dumd that can’t figure that out for themselves.
Who else tells people NOT to Trust them, and to cheak their work? Not salsemen, or other people trying to mislead you, dum-dum!
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