Teabaggers Fall For Death Panels Story: Dorothy Zborknak Has Been Executed

Politifact has published a "Pants On Fire" response to a story making the rounds in Teabagistan which claims that Obamacare death panels have "executed their first patient." From the story:

According to recent reports, a group of death panels organized under Obamacare ordered their first execution. "Following a hearing by the president’s Patient Resource Efficiency Board (PREB), 86-year-old Dorothy Zborknak has been ordered to death. The reason? According to the administration, she is no longer useful. "Zborknak worked at Fleur de Lis Florist in Chicago for nearly forty years, before she made the decision to retire in 1998. Since that time, she has struggled with a host of health problems, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney failure. Unfortunately, the cost of her care just became too expensive," claims Peter Johnston, a member of the Chicago PREB. "Under the Affordable Care Act, we have the power to make choices about end of life care and I stand by our ruling. I know it will be hard for the family to accept what’s going to happen. But from a financial standpoint, this was a very easy decision."

The story is, of course, from a satire site. It apparently made its first social media appearance in early September on a teabagger Facebook page titled The Patriot. A sample comment there: "This was fore-warned in Romney's political ads. TOO many people didn't want a Mormon in the White house, so they voted in a Muz Slime instead!" And another: "All you OVOMIT voters and stupidly OVOMIT lovers READ THIS. You too WILL GET OLD and when his people decide you no longer useful to the world you too will reap the rewards of your DUMB ASS VOTES you sold out for a free phone and the likes. Enjoy knowing that your time is coming as well as the ones who had more sense than to vote for the evil MUSLIM FOREIGNER."  That post on Facebook has been shared nearly 5000 times. (Tipped by JMG reader David)

PolitiFact: Bryan Fischer Rated A "Pants On Fire" Liar For AIDS Claims

After President Obama mentioned the loss of HIV/AIDS researchers on the downed Malaysian Airlines flight, hate group spokesman Bryan Fischer declared that Obama was "politicizing" their deaths in order to legitimize gay relationships. Fischer went on to claim, "We know how to stop AIDS: persuade men not to have sex with men." PolitiFact looked into Fischer's bullshit and gave him their worst rating as being a "Pants On Fire" liar.

Globally, the dominant form of transmission is heterosexual sex, said Sophie Barton Knott, UNAIDS spokeswoman. Nearly half of people with HIV are female, and most were infected through heterosexual sex. Most of the 50.9 percent of men with HIV got it through heterosexual sex, too, she said. The highest rates of AIDS among 15- to 24-year-olds is among women in many parts of the world, said Seth Faison, spokesman for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. And in Eastern Europe, the highest transmission rates of AIDS are among people who inject drugs. "Men who have sex with men are a high-risk group, but not the only one," he said. The bottom line? Preventing men from having sex with men will not end AIDS. Faison said the criminalization of same-sex activity actually can increase transmission rates. Being gay is a crime in at least 76 countries, and in those places, gay men are less likely to receive treatment, testing and prevention. The CDC also says stigma and homophobia are likely one factor behind the rise in HIV infections among young gay men in the United States. "In effect, efforts to ‘persuade men not to have sex with men’ is counterproductive," Faison said. "It will not stop AIDS." Fischer’s claim is ridiculous. It rates Pants on Fire.

But we all knew that, of course.

PolitiFact Rates Ralph Reed's Claims About Gay Parenting As Totally False

On Sunday, Ralph Reed appeared on ABC's This Week to declare that social science has found "irrefutable" proof that children are better off being raised by a mom and a dad. PolitiFact has rated his claims as totally false.

We did find one study funded by conservative organizations as showing gay parents are worse than straight ones, but it’s been denounced by the American Sociological Association, the researcher’s own university and many reputable sociologists. In conducting the study, Mark Regnerus loosely defined same-sex couples and, in doing so, only spoke with two children who were actually raised by gay parents. Research is still limited, but many reputable studies so far have concluded that children of gay parents, generally speaking, are just as well off as children of straight parents. What’s more important is the number of parents a child has, experts told us. "Kids are better off with two parents," said Andrew Cherlin, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University. "But we don't have much evidence that those parents must be of the opposite gender."

Their final ruling: "All reputable research so far indicates that children brought up by gay parents are just well off as those brought up by straight parents. We rate Reed’s statement False."

Politifact's Lie Of the Year: If You Like Your Health Insurance, You Can Keep It

Politifact has named its Lie Of The Year for 2013.

It was a catchy political pitch and a chance to calm nerves about his dramatic and complicated plan to bring historic change to America’s health insurance system. "If you like your health care plan, you can keep it," President Barack Obama said -- many times -- of his landmark new law. But the promise was impossible to keep. So this fall, as cancellation letters were going out to approximately 4 million Americans, the public realized Obama’s breezy assurances were wrong. Boiling down the complicated health care law to a soundbite proved treacherous, even for its promoter-in-chief. Obama and his team made matters worse, suggesting they had been misunderstood all along. The stunning political uproar led to this: a rare presidential apology.

Right wing sites (which typically denounce Politifact) are doing back flips.

Tony Perkins Vs Politifact

Politifact ripped to shreds Tony Perkins' claim on Face The Nation that business are being forced to serve gay customers.

We didn't find cases where people were forced to participate against their will. However, if vendors refuse service, there are consequences. There are 21 states that forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation. Vendors who refuse service there could face legal actions and fines. The "jail" part of Perkins’ claim is an exaggeration. We couldn’t find any evidence that a vendor had been sent to jail or that any legal authority had threatened jail time. In some states, if a business owner loses an anti-discrimination case and refuses to comply with an order, the owner could face jail, but we found no evidence of that ever happening. One state, Colorado, specifically took action to remove the threat of jail.

Perkins fired off a super-pissed email last night:

The media, in a desperate attempt to downplay the persecution Americans will face for opposing same-sex "marriage," is resorting to lies from its own "fact-checkers." They understand, as we do, that it's harder to vilify someone when you see them suffering for living out their faith.  And for dozens of men and women, that suffering is taking place in the form of more than jail time. For them, the nightmare is already here in the form of thousands of dollars in fines, lawsuits, public humiliation, boycotts of their businesses, death threats, and vandalism of their property. This is the real intolerance. And one day, no amount of shoddy journalism will be able to hide it.

Perkins again fails to note that public accommodation laws predate marriage equality in every state where such protections exist.

Politifact: NOM's Pants Are On Fire

Remember NOM's typically lie-filled claims about marriage in their full-page Rhode Island newspaper ad? Politifact took a look at those claims and gave NOM their worst rating: Pants On Fire. That's no surprise to most of us here, but enjoy:

The National Organization for Marriage-Rhode Island said in a newspaper advertisement that "religious groups like Knights of Columbus have been forced to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies in their facilities, against their beliefs." But the Knights of Columbus incident cited as proof by Plante, NOM’s regional coordinator, was from Canada and did not support its claim. Neither did the second example it cited. Nor the third. NOM made a strongly worded claim on the eve of a key vote that was meant to influence voters -- and their legislators. We can’t predict what could happen under same-sex marriage laws in the future. But we can rule on claims that are so far from the truth. The judges rule Pants on Fire.

Read the full report. (Tipped by JMG reader Wayne)

NEW YORK: NOM Relaunches Debunked Lie-Filled Ad From 2009

In New York state NOM has begun re-airing the same lie-filled ad that it ran in 2009, when it was debunked by the fact-finding site Politifact. Via Holy Bullies, here's Politifact's assessment:

The National Organization for Marriage mailing says that Massachusetts public schools teach kindergartners about gay marriage. The wording, including the present tense verb, gives the impression this is happening now, in many schools. But the group’s only evidence is two incidents five years ago. It’s possible that somewhere, in one of the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, other kindergartners have been taught about same-sex marriage. But NOM couldn’t cite any other examples. We find its statement False.

Sarah Palin - Liar Of The Year

Fact-checking political site PolitiFact has chosen Sarah Palin's "death panels" claim as its "Lie Of The Year."

Of all the falsehoods and distortions in the political discourse this year, one stood out from the rest. "Death panels." The claim set political debate afire when it was made in August, raising issues from the role of government in health care to the bounds of acceptable political discussion. In a nod to the way technology has transformed politics, the statement wasn't made in an interview or a television ad.

Sarah Palin posted it on her Facebook page. Her assertion — that the government would set up boards to determine whether seniors and the disabled were worthy of care — spread through newscasts, talk shows, blogs and town hall meetings. Opponents of health care legislation said it revealed the real goals of the Democratic proposals. Advocates for health reform said it showed the depths to which their opponents would sink. Still others scratched their heads and said, "Death panels? Really?" The editors of PolitiFact.com, the fact-checking Web site of the St. Petersburg Times, have chosen it as our inaugural "Lie of the Year."

Congratulations, Ms. Palin.