Speech, Lies and Apathy in Political Campaigns - NYTimes.com

Speech, Lies and Apathy in Political Campaigns - NYTimes.com:

How would the Romney campaign deliver this message by making only true statements? The strategy of the campaign is evidence for the claims I have made in previous columns about the erosion of trust, because the strategy of this ad campaign takes these points for granted. The Romney campaign knows that there is no cost at all to making obviously false statements in order to convey an alternative message. Claims in the public domain are now routinely treated as intentional distortions of facts to promote ideologies; distortions or misrepresentations justified by the need to “counterbalance” false claims from the other side. The Romney campaign is not at fault for making false statements. They are just astutely taking advantage of the political environment in which all campaigning now takes place.