NPR to fact check Trump's Inauguration Day Address

[Crockett]

I have to admit that when I heard they were doing this I laughed and said -- "hey give him a break this time." Then I noticed that NPR also fact checked Obama's farewell address and his State of the Union speeches.

 

[Mr. Deez]

Of all the so-called fact checking I've seen done, only about ten percent of it was truly checking for facts. Far more often than not, it's basic political spin, and of course, the partisan double standards are absolutely laughable.

 

[ProdigalHorn]

I'm honestly a little concerned about the trend to "fact check" things, because from what I've seen so far, what that really means is "did we agree with it or not, and if we didn't, here's why we think he's wrong."

Fact checks shouldn't be used on ideology. If someone claims something happened, then you go check if it did or didn't. But some of the stuff I've seen has been ridiculous. And where it's most open for abuse is in the "mostly" or "partly" areas, where the partisanship really shows up.

A couple of examples:

Fact-checking hyperbole: Cruz is wrong about "Death To America Day"

Do you think Politifact fact checked Obama's claim that Trayvon Martin "could have been my son?" I'm fairly sure it would have been very easily to prove biologically that no, he actually could NOT have been Obama's son...

http://www.politifactbias.com/2017/01/cprc-is-politifact-really-organization.html

The CPRC puts its strongest argument front and center:
Are 18 and 19 year olds “children”?

For 2013 through 2015 for ages 0 through 19 there were 7,838 firearm deaths. If you exclude 18 and 19 year olds, the number firearm deaths for 2013 through 2015 is reduced by almost half to 4,047 firearm deaths. Including people who are clearly adults drives the total number of deaths.

Even the Brady Campaign differentiates children from teenagers. If you just look at those who aren’t teenagers, the number of firearm deaths declines to 692, which comes to 0.63 deaths per day.This argument cuts PolitiFact California's fact check to the quick. Instead looking at "children" as something to question, the fact-checkers let it pass with a "he-said, she said" caveat (bold emphasis added):
These include all types of gun deaths from accidents to homicides to suicides. About 36 percent resulted from suicides.

Some might take issue with Speier lumping in 18 year-olds and 19 year-olds as children.

Gun deaths for these two ages accounted for nearly half of the 7,838 young people killed in the two-year period.Yes, some might take issue with lumping 18 year-olds and 19 year-olds in as children, particularly when checking Merriam-Webster quickly reveals how the claim stretches the truth. The distortion maximizes the emotional appeal of protecting "children."

Merriam-Webster's definition No. 2:
a : a young person especially between infancy and youth
b : a childlike or childish person
c : a person not yet of age"A person not yet of age" provides the broadest reasonable understanding of the claim PolitiFact California checked. In the United States, persons 18 and over qualify as "of age."

Taking persons over 18 out of the mix all by itself cuts the estimate nearly in half. Great job, PolitiFact California.

Politifact: it's a FACT that there are more gun dealers than McDonalds, and it's easier to get a gun than a happy meal in California.

Polifact; Mostly false that Germany and France thought Iraq had WMDs.

Politifact: Rubber-stamps Feingold claim on Social Security by consulting the echo chamber

Harry Reid completely wrong on Senate Democrat obstruction, but still "mostly true"

 

[I35]

Then I noticed that NPR

That should also be a company that needs to be defunded to relief the tax payers. If they can't stand on their own and sale their ads to make a profit like all the others do then they should be gone. We need to look at all the companies that are funded by the tax payers and get rid of them. US postal service needs either doing away with or at least make major cutbacks in funding them. Their competitors are all profitable and would pick up the slack and would even hire many from the independent government agency. Planned Parenthood? YES! We're funding way too much stuff. The Government loves to spend our money on stuff not profitable.

 

[Mr. Deez]

I'm honestly a little concerned about the trend to "fact check" things, because from what I've seen so far, what that really means is "did we agree with it or not, and if we didn't, here's why we think he's wrong."

Fact checks shouldn't be used on ideology. If someone claims something happened, then you go check if it did or didn't. But some of the stuff I've seen has been ridiculous. And where it's most open for abuse is in the "mostly" or "partly" areas, where the partisanship really shows up.

A couple of examples:

Fact-checking hyperbole: Cruz is wrong about "Death To America Day"

Do you think Politifact fact checked Obama's claim that Trayvon Martin "could have been my son?" I'm fairly sure it would have been very easily to prove biologically that no, he actually could NOT have been Obama's son...

http://www.politifactbias.com/2017/01/cprc-is-politifact-really-organization.html



Politifact: it's a FACT that there are more gun dealers than McDonalds, and it's easier to get a gun than a happy meal in California.

Polifact; Mostly false that Germany and France thought Iraq had WMDs.

Politifact: Rubber-stamps Feingold claim on Social Security by consulting the echo chamber

Harry Reid completely wrong on Senate Democrat obstruction, but still "mostly true"

This is why I refer to Politifact as "Politifiction."

 

[BrntOrngStmpeDe]

The Government loves to spend our money on stuff not profitable.

The government shouldn't try to be profitable. Effective yes, efficient hopefully...but not profitable.

NPR is certainly a biased organization but the problem (IMO) has as much to do with the volume of fact checking they do on GOP vs Dems. as it does where they draw the line on 'fact' versus not. They lob softball "fact checking" at Dems and dig deep on GOP stuff. and IMO this is only done to Dems so that they can claim a little "balanced reporting".

Almost all pol's use hyperbole to make their points and it often borders on blatant lies. We just tend to see it for hyperbole when 'our guy' does it, and then we see it for 'lies and obfuscation' when they other side does it.

Cruz's "Death to America" just barely crosses the 50% to become "mostly true" and isn't even the same style of rhetoric that Obama used to say "Trevon could have been my son". BO wasn't trying to state a fact. It was an obvious rhetorical device....There but for the grace of God, type statement.

 

[I35]

The government shouldn't try to be profitable. Effective yes, efficient hopefully...but not profitable.

But they do try (Solyndra). My key point is they love spending our money with nothing to show for it but more dependents. I wonder how much money is funneled back into the Dems campaign from organizations like Planned Parenthood?