Why RNC Chairman Micheal Steele's Misstatement is Important

Recently, the Republican National Committee chairman, Michael Steele, commented that the Afghanistan war was Obama's war. The range of reactions to this unfortunate comment ranged from supporting Steele to demanding that he be ousted.

Personally, I don't think Steele's statement is a big deal. Who hasn't made errors in public comments. I think Senator McCain should be the last person to blast Steele. McCain has made misstatements and continues to make misstatements particularly about Obama's policies.

McCain incorrectly referred to Obama's plans to withdraw from Afghanistan as an unconditional withdrawal. The plan is anything but an unconditional withdrawal. McCain was well aware of this not only in regard to Afghanistan but also in regard to Iraq. Yet he persisted to discard the truth and spurt meaningless misstatements designed to benefit his own campaign. In fact, there have been so many misstatements by McCain that I am tempted to label him a mis-speaker. Now there's a new word for you: mis-speaker. Not every mis-speaker is a politician but is every politician a mis-speaker? During election years, I would say yes.

The Democrats are not sitting around and letting the misstatements by Republicans go unnoticed. They have a campaign of their own to hold Republicans accountable for their misstatements. They are welcoming people to record or capture videos of Republicans making misstatements and to submit them to the DNC. You can view it at this URL:

http://www.democrats.org/a/2010/06/a_new_way_to_ho.php

Perhaps this is one reason why the Republicans are so concerned about Steele's misstatements. I think the war against misstatements could lead to better campaigns and a much better informed public. Imagine if a two hour documentary was played on the major television networks and on radio revealing the misstatements of all candidates in the next Presidential election. Would that make candidates think more about the truth when they prepare their statements for the public?

It would have one effect: The people's confidence in the American political system would drop dramatically.

If you want to record hundreds of misstatements, you don't have to follow the election campaigns. All you have to do is listen to the misstatements made in Congress. Taxpayer dollars are constantly being wasted on misstatements especially during an election year. I would venture to say that you would have enough material for a 24 hour round the clock broadcast of misstatements.

You can view the site of the Democratic National Committee at the following URL:

http://www.democrats.org

For those who are interested in the Republican National Committee, here is the URL:

http://www.gop.com/index.php