Facts or Policy

I've said before that political arguments today are less about policy than about simple facts. As John Leo and now Lori Byrd have written, the whole idea of what is a fact seems to be controversial.

I want to point out that this is not a recent development. Iraq, the economy and Katrina are excellent examples of recent stories that have had the "facts" distorted beyond recognition. However, virtually every major argument that liberals have made in the last quarter century has been based on fuzzy or misleading facts -- the number of homeless and the cause of their homelessness; the "pristineness" of the wilderness hellhole in Alaska that has been proposed for drilling; global warming, spotted owls, and other environmental myths; Super Bowl violence, underpaid women, and little girls ignored by teachers; intimidation of black voters, pay discrimination, the list goes on and on and on ....