There was no A Few Good Men moment last night, probably because in a debate there is no judge to make sure the debaters are telling the truth and no real sanctions if one side lies.
As a result, Dick Cheney revised his role he plays on right wing radio, spewing forth a torrent of lies that the moderator was unwilling to question and Edwards had limited amount of time to dispute. To many, the lies played well. One only has to look at the Washington Post's TV coverage to see the impact. Tom Shales, in his debate review, nearly led with Cheney's zinger that "The first time I ever met you was when you walked on this stage tonight."
Just one problem. IT WASN'T TRUE!!!!!! The Los Angeles Times (subscription required) pointed out that "It was perhaps the most surprising tidbit of new information during the debate — that Vice President Dick Cheney had never met Sen. John Edwards until Tuesday night. Except it wasn't true."
Less than two hours after the debate ended, aides to Edwards and Sen. John F. Kerry distributed a photograph from the Feb. 1, 2001, National Prayer Breakfast showing Edwards and Cheney standing side by side.
The Times also pointed out that in January 2003 Edwards escorted the newly elected senator from North Carolina, Elizabeth Hanford Dole, onto the Senate floor for her swearing-in by Cheney.
The problem is that people will remember the lie and not the truth and that was what Cheney/Bush was hoping for. After all, that is a staple of right wing radio, spew lies knowing that very few will be uncovered and very few people will ever realize they are lies. The Right likes to complain about 527s but right wing radio is little more than free campaign ads for Republicans.
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