Let's See the Forest for the Trees

Following Thursday's vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, we have obviously seen and heard the political pundits from both sides discuss not only the winner and loser but also inaccuracies and supposed mistakes. The following are some of my favorites:

Palin: "[General] McClellan did not say definitively the surge principles would not work in Afghanistan."
Truth: First and foremost, the correct name of the commanding officer of NATO troops in Afghanistan is General David McKiernan. General George McClellan served in the Civil War and died more than 120 years ago. With that being said, McKiernan had this to say on Wednesday: "What I don’t think is needed — the word that I don’t use in Afghanistan is the word 'surge'. There needs to be a sustained commitment of a variety of military and non-military resources, I believe. That’s my advice to winning in Afghanistan. It won’t be a short term solution."

Biden: The Senator from my home state of Delaware was criticized vehemently by various conservatives on FOX News, including the ridiculous Ann Coulter, for supposedly incorrectly describing the individuals living in Bosnia as "Bosniaks".
Truth: Spelled correctly, the term Bosniaks does refer to South Slavic individuals living primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina. If you think that I am may be spinning this topic, I recommend that you to go http://www.bosniak.org/06/, the web site for the Congress of North American Bosniaks.

Biden: Calvin Woodward of The Associated Press claimed that Biden's complaints about how the "economic policies of the last eight years" have created "excessive deregulation" fall on deaf ears because he actually voted for deregulation in 1999.
Truth: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act in 1999 repealed legislation from 1933 and, by doing so, allowed for competition among banks, securities companies and insurance companies. The Congressional vote (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s1999-105) shows that Biden voted against the act and (surprise, surprise) Sen. John McCain voted for the legislation.

Biden: "[Sen.] Barack Obama did not vote to raise taxes. The vote [Palin's] referring to, John McCain voted the exact same way. It was a budget procedural vote. John McCain voted the same way."
Truth: Multiple web sites (including FactCheck.org) stated that Biden was incorrect when making this claim. At the same time, according to the web site for the Congressional voting record (http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00042), the amendment to which Biden was speaking did provide tax relief to, among other groups, middle class families and small businesses. FactCheck.org attempted to connect their false claim to another piece of legislation (http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/110/bills/s_4/). However, this particular bill clearly focused on improving homeland security.

Biden: "John McCain said as recently as a couple of weeks ago he wouldn't even sit down with the government of Spain, a NATO ally that has troops in Afghanistan with us now."
Truth: FactCheck.org and other web sites declared that McCain did not deliver a definitive statement against inviting President Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to the White House if McCain was elected President. Well, view McCain's response for yourself: "Uh, I don’t, you know, honestly I have to look at the relations and the situations and the priorities."

Palin: "John McCain has been the consummate maverick in the Senate over all these years."
Truth: An article from the "Congressional Quarterly" in January 2008 determined that McCain was the most reliable voter for the Bush administration in 2007: "McCain's 95% support score for last year was the highest in the chamber." Maybe it doesn't count if you are running for President of the United States.

With all of this in mind, here is one more Palin quote from the debate that I wanted to point out: "I may not answer the questions the way that either the moderator or [Sen. Biden wants] to hear but I'm going to talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also." Listen, dingbat, there are two important things that you should know. (1) You are not as cute or as smart as you think you are and (2) the American people do want you to actually answer the questions asked.