by Julie Ann Dawson
Member since:
April 26, 2007

The Stupid Attacks Against Factcheck.org

October 08, 2008 02:58 PM EDT
views: 587 | comments: 49

This is mostly in response to Marilyn's constant posting regarding Factcheck.

 A couple of days ago was the first time I saw her make the unsubstantiated accusation that FactCheck.org was in cahoots with Obama.  Apparently, according to Marilyn, Factcheck.org has "a relationship" with Ayers and Obama.  I called her out on it.  She never responded.  I've also seen a few other people start attempting to discredit Factcheck.org in the same manner.

 Well, she did it again in another thread today, so this time I went and found the information myself.  This is the real story.

Factcheck.org was founded in 1994, by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, which is funded by the Annenberg Foundation.

The Annenberg Foundation is a philathropic fund established by the late Walter Annenberg, a billionaire, media mogul, and former ambassador who served under Nixon. He was close friends with the Reagans. He was considered perhaps America's greatest philanthropist.

In 1995, Bill Ayers won a grant from the Foundation for over $49 million dollars to help the schools in Chicago over a five year period. Obama was named to the board to help oversee the distribution of the grant money for projects.

So to connect the dots:

Obama worked with Ayers on the project that was funded by the Annenberg Foundation. The Annenberg Foundation funds Factcheck.org. Therefore, Obama has Factcheck.org in his back pocket.

This guilt by association crap is...well...crap.  Here is a complete list of the hundreds of organizations that have received funding from this incredible Foundation recently.

http://www.annenbergfoundation.org/usr_doc/GrantsOverview.pdf

If you seek to discredit Factcheck.org because Ayers secured a Foundation grant in 1995, then you are also discrediting:

Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Boy Scouts of America

First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica

Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust

Oregon School of the Deaf

United Negro College Fund

and hundreds of other programs that have been funded by the Annenberg Foundation.

 

This is the problem with guilt by association.  Innocent people (and groups) get smeared in the process.

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Comments: 49

mary bryant Oct 8, 2008, 3:07pm EDT
Thanks for the info
Paul M. Oct 8, 2008, 3:07pm EDT
The entire Republican campaign hasn't been rooted in reality, so why stop now? Obama is going to raise your taxes! He supports sex ed for kindergartners! He's a secret Muslim! (At the same time he shares the views of Rev. Wright!) The only card they ever had to play was the "experience" card and they negated that advantage with Paris Palin, so really, expect more of these attacks the closer we get because it's all they got at this point.
Amanda C. Oct 8, 2008, 3:13pm EDT
Great research Julie! Hopefully this spells it out for those skewing the facts...although, knowing them, they'll just ignore it and keep on jabbing.
Joe T. Oct 8, 2008, 3:18pm EDT
All they have left are these shameless attacks. They are out of ideas that would help this country. The Republicans have imploded this election cycle. They allowed their president (GWB) to use them and now they have nothing. That is their fault. When they were in control of Congress, they should have taken care to deliver on their ideas. When they didn't (because the ideas are bad ideas), they blew it. They had everything and couldn't pull off anything like limited government, the reversal of Roe V. Wade, or a growing economy. So, here we are with a choice. I say that giving Obama the presidency is the only real choice because a McCain presidency ensures that the recession lasts forever.
David K. Oct 8, 2008, 3:20pm EDT
Pure two-dimensional thinking. Seeing "Annenberg" cues the brain to see a connection. And yet on the list of foundations that Annenberg has funded is none other than the Laura Bush Foundation ($1 million). Guess the President's wife is associated with a terrorist. Luckily, Annenberg also donated $1 million to the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation, so I guess it's a wash.

2-D or not 2-D, that is the question.
Kat W. Oct 8, 2008, 3:39pm EDT
Julie,

Thank you for posting this. I posted a factcheck.org link the other day and someone made a comment against it because of the Annenberg connection.
Stephanie B. Oct 8, 2008, 3:43pm EDT
They sure do keep you busy here on Gather, don't they?

Thanks for sharing this.
Maria W. Oct 8, 2008, 3:51pm EDT
Thanks for the Info!
Lisa C. Oct 8, 2008, 3:58pm EDT
Great post Julie! Obviously the right is grabbing at anything possible to smear Obama. Thanks for posting the facts. I think it's funny that even McCain has claimed to use factcheck.
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 8, 2008, 3:58pm EDT
They sure do keep you busy here on Gather, don't they?
I think I have become sort of Gather's own version of factcheck.org...and hell I don't even get any grant money!
LEЯA © Politcally Incorrect M. Oct 8, 2008, 4:16pm EDT
I have a question; Why are so many of Obama’s friends such low-lifes, and why doesn’t anyone care?
LEЯA © Politcally Incorrect M. Oct 8, 2008, 4:18pm EDT
Walter Annenberg was a Republican and he is probably spinning in his grave over what they spent that grant money for.
Some people care, Lera. It's just that there are so many low lifes that don't.
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 8, 2008, 4:29pm EDT
Lera,

Name one program his money was spent on that would offend him? Please go through the report I posted and point out what he would take offense to.
Marilyn M. Oct 8, 2008, 4:54pm EDT
Think whatever you wish, Julie Ann. This is something that news media has pointed out. By the way, have you noticed that CNN is finally looking in to Obama's claims that there was never anything to the Ayers association...and finding that he lied? About time regular media does that...instead of believing his books and press releases.
Lisa C. Oct 8, 2008, 5:07pm EDT
With all this talk, you would never know there was a global financial meltdown taking place.
Lisa C. Oct 8, 2008, 5:20pm EDT
Does anyone know who said this? "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government, and I won't be buried under their damn flag.” or maybe this? "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've got no use for America or her damned institutions."
Lisa C. Oct 8, 2008, 5:59pm EDT
ding ding ding You win Mariah! Nothin' like throwin' them stones in them glass houses, ya know?
Jack E. Oct 8, 2008, 6:09pm EDT
Nice job Julie. The whole republican platform is nothing but non-truth and lies anyway.
Just because an agency supports some legitimate groups, does it also mean that they are absolutely above supporting any that are not? That's typical deductive logic of this ilk.
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 8, 2008, 9:07pm EDT
Don't expect clarification from Sue. I'm still waiting for someone to point out one organization that has received money from the Foundation that Annenberg would be offended by.

The entire point is that conservatives need an excuse to discredit Factcheck.org, because it has been brutal to McCain (of course, so have the majority of fact check sites, but still...) So they create this tenuous link, claiming that because this multi-billion dollar trust funding a grant to Ayers, the entire organization is suspect and anything that is funded by Annenberg is somehow controlled by Ayers...and by extension Obama.
Mariah, why don't you people get anything? Do you drink bad water or something? Julie Ann pointed out all the groups that Annenberg supports, all of which are good organizations. My point was that just because they support good organizations, does that also mean they might not also support bad ones? You people really do help hone my typiing skills.
Well, as you see, there's still a typo there, so keep up the ignorance for me, please.
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 9, 2008, 8:25am EDT
My point was that just because they support good organizations, does that also mean they might not also support bad ones?

So you get to pick and choose which organizations you think MIGHT be bad, but won'y actually name them?

All I did was point out the obvious. People claim Fackcheck.org is corrupt because it received money from the same organization that also funded a grant for Ayers. Under that logic, every organization funded by the Foundation is by default corrupt, because they all received money from a Foundation that also awarded a grant to Ayers.
Robert S. Oct 9, 2008, 10:39am EDT
When you are in deep poop you start grasping at nonexistent straws. You lie, lie, and lie somemore. They know if you throw enough BS against the wall a little bit might stick.
Nora Davenport Oct 9, 2008, 1:39pm EDT
I have never, ever heard of Factcheck.org...........the Boy Scouts....NO way..............yeah, right, sure the Scouts have an "in" with Osama bin Laden and are buddy buddies...........yeah, sure!
Jennifer R. Oct 9, 2008, 2:55pm EDT
Mariah, I wouldn't take too much offense. I have witnessed Lera, and Sue call people names and the like just because you disagree with them. There was nothing wrong with what you wrote or how you stated your question it just wasn't in exalted priase of their snippiness! There I said my peace...


Julie thanks so much for posting this. I have used factcheck.org and find it to actually be very partisan. I read their review of the vice presidential debate and they clarified statements by both candidates not just Palin. So, I am thankful for you in clearing this up. Good job on your article.
Ginny A. Oct 9, 2008, 3:02pm EDT
Personally, I can't wait til the election is over. Maybe then we can all, politicians and citizens, get back to saving America.
Mariah, your confusion as to the use of my word agency is in your own mind. I would never, in a zillion years, have thought that you or anyone with the ability to comprehend simple text, would not have known about that which I was speaking, no matter the previous comment. The word agency did not refer to any particular thing. I was using it to make a point. You would have had to articulate a specific question since I am not a mindreader of what your lack of acuity might entail. I was trying to show that just because an entity, an agency, a corporation, a school, a camp, a women's club, a hospital, a car dealership, a government, a funeral parlor or any other thing you can imagine, supports some things that are good, it doesn't necessarily make all the things that they support good things. Sort of like all change is not good change, but we'll keep it simple, so forget that. (I prefer Poland Spring)
I just called someone into my office to read this and they pointed out that since you didn't get it the first time, you might still not get it. I was advised to show you this.


"Here is a complete list of the hundreds of organizations that have received funding from this incredible Foundation recently."

http://www.annenbergfoundation.org/usr_doc/GrantsOverview.pdf
By the way, I did copy and paste that URL, Julie Ann. I wonder why they choose to show the grants of $50K and above for only the time period of July 1, 2002-June 30, 2004. I might add that there are around 75 organizations listed, not even one hundred, and certainnly not the hundreds that you indicated, though I assume there are many more from other periods that they would prefer to keep hidden.
Here's another article that you might like to read. Of course, you won't like the source, and that's just fine, but you should be aware of all the possibilities.
LEЯA © Politcally Incorrect M. Oct 9, 2008, 4:01pm EDT
Julie, I looked at dozens and dozens of web sites about Ayers and Obama and numerous other things. I came across a site naming some of the things that Ayers did with the money for the Chicago school system. However I didn't bookmark that page and so far haven't been able to find it again. If I do come across some of the things they spent the money on I will post it here.

Thanks.
LEЯA © Politcally Incorrect M. Oct 9, 2008, 4:04pm EDT
Oh, and I'm speaking entirely about what Ayers and Obama spent the money on relating to the Chicago school system. Sorry if I wasn't 100% clear about that earlier.
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 9, 2008, 4:50pm EDT
I might add that there are around 75 organizations listed

Now I understand. You can't count.

I just went through the entire 66 page PDF. There are a total of 328 grants noted. I counted it. On pg 40, there is even a grant to the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation. Apparently the Bushes also have ties to terrorists.
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 9, 2008, 4:51pm EDT
I wonder why they choose to show the grants of $50K and above for only the time period of July 1, 2002-June 30, 2004.

Probably because this is meant to be a recent media kit PDF? Considering the existing PDF is 66 pages long, to list every grant of every amount since the foundation's creation would require four books.
"Mariah, I wouldn't take too much offense. I have witnessed Lera, and Sue call people names..." I specifically refrain from name calling, so that's just a lie. Whatever, the like means is very vague, but the most name calling I have ever done is to refer to you as piglet because that is your icon and how you choose to represent yourself. That's not my fault.
No, Mariah, the bitchiness is your perception of me, so it's in your mind. Bitchiness is no more a state of mind than sneezing is a state of the nose. It can be a reaction to someone caused by irritation, though, much like an allergen produces an irritation causing one to sneeze.
They could have easily reduced the giant font and listed from a much wider time period, Julie Ann. May I remind you, that if this is supposed to be just a recent list, it is now 2008.
You're going to believe what you choose to believe, Julie Anne. I don't really care what that is. My initial comment was only to show that these are not the only organizations that have been supported by this group and I have since provided other information showing that the donations awarded many school organizations did so with a quid pro quo of 'radicalizing' the curricula. As I said, you don't want to believe that part. Makes no difference to me whether you do or not. I really hadn't planned to get engaged here past the first comment.
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 9, 2008, 8:23pm EDT
I get it, Sue. You want to claim that Factcheck.org is corrupt solely because Ayers got a grant from the same foundation. But logically, if the sole reason Factcheck.org is corrupt is because they got money from the same foundation Ayers did, then by default every organization the Foundation gave money to is corrupt.

You've already proven you can't count (you said there were only 75 grants listed...there are over 300). Maybe you also can't read and are confusing the CHicago Annenberg Challenge with the entire Annenberg Foundation.
Listen, Julie Ann; listen like you've never listened before, and if you don't, I don't give a flyin' fig, mind you, but that's your choice. I don't care if you hate my guts, because God knows, I don't need another Gather loser to love me. I don't hate you, but I was desperately trying to get some semblance of sense into you. I don't know you, so I don't care whether you see connections you should or not, and neither do I care that you spent God knows how much time to count those stupid organizations, the count of which I delegated to a mere receptionist with few calls to anwser at the time. I don't care that you don't get it. I do care that I did what I could do to make you see something beyond your little, insipid mind. That I failed is not my failure. That I should care beyond this stupid, little muddled and insignificant post would only be my own nemesis. Enjoy your self-righteous pomposity. I'm sure it's the crowning glory of your life, and I do not wish, in any way, to take from the poor. That this should be the last time our paths might ever cross on this site or in eternity would be wishful thinking, but one does only have hope in the end, I suppose.
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 10, 2008, 8:20am EDT
Was it something I said?
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 10, 2008, 8:21am EDT
Have you ever been in a room when someone, for no apparent reason, gets over-the-top angry

Yeah, I get that a lot. Normally right after I proved them wrong.
Nunya Business Oct 12, 2008, 3:10am EDT
Some corrections and additions:

From Time magazine's Michael Scherer's October 8 post on Time's Swampland blog:

This morning John McCain put out a list of 100 former ambassadors who are supporting his campaign. Number two is Leonore Annenberg, the wife of Ambassador William [sic] Annenberg, the founder of the Annenberg Institute of Reform, which funded the Annenberg Challenge, which once had two famous board members: former "domestic terrorist" William Ayers and Sen. Barack Obama.

So either we should be mad as hell that John McCain is supported by a family who funded a foundation that hired a domestic terrorist, or this whole William Ayers pile of crap is the total joke it was the first time it was uttered.
Julie Ann Dawson Oct 13, 2008, 11:45am EDT
McCain is really good at attacking his own friends, isn't he? Earlier this year, he used Paris Hilton to spoof Obama, even though her parents are friends and long-time supports of McCain. Now he uses the Annenberg Foundation to prove Obama has ties to terrorists, even though the Annenberg Foundation is operated by one of his supporters.

With friends like McCain, who needs enemies.
Shing Wedzi Oct 14, 2008, 12:20am EDT
Julie, I for one fully appreciate the due diligence in your post.
libramoon C. Oct 18, 2008, 5:23pm EDT
The problem with guilt by association? 6 degrees of separation and common dna links us all.
Kelly K ~ ready for the New Year ~ Oct 19, 2008, 12:46pm EDT
I have been a very proud registered Democrat my whole life, up until this yr.
I am now a happily registered Independent who has voted for MCain.
Neither one was the "perfect" one to lead our Nation.
But, McCain has more experience and cares more about the Middle Class than
Obama does, and we know 100 percent where McCain was born.
as for Fact Check that is not reliable for either person.
Paula C. Jul 14, 2009, 5:17pm EDT

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