Tweet Checking

David Smalley at Dogma Debate put out this tweet today:

Fact-Checking Site Finds Fox News Only Tells the Truth 18% of the Time http://t.co/wE7hgQYYgZ

— David Smalley (@davidcsmalley) November 20, 2014

I went and took a deeper look at the data the website has published. I agree that all news networks tell whatever they need to get the required ratings. I compared the FOXNews hosts with the MSNBC hosts from the website David Smalley referenced with the following results.

MSNBC Hosts		True	Mostly True	Half True	Mostly False	False	Pants on Fire	Total Statements
Mika	Berzinski	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Joe	Scarborough	1	1	2	0	2	0	6
Thomas	Roberts	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jose	Diaz-Balart	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Tamaron	Hall	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Andrea	Mitchell	0	1	1	0	0	0	2
Ronan	Farrow	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Joy	Reid	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
Alex	Wagner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ed	Schultz	0	1	3	3	1	2	10
Al	Sharpton	0	1	1	1	1	0	4
Chris	Matthews	1	1	2	1	2	0	7
Chris	Hayes	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Rachel	Maddow	3	5	3	6	5	1	23
Lawrence	Odonnell	1	3	0	2	1	0	7
	Sum	6	13	14	15	12	4	64
	Percent	9%	20%	22%	23%	19%	6%	100%
Fox News Hosts		True	Mostly True	Half True	Mostly False	False	Pants on Fire	Total Statements
Megyn	Kelly	1	0	0	0	1	0	2
Sean	Hannity	3	2	3	1	3	0	12
Bill	Oreilly	2	4	2	2	5	1	16
Greg	Gutfeld	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Juan	Williams	1	1	0	0	0	0	2
Dana	Perino	0	0	0	1	1	0	2
Bob	Beckel	1	0	1	0	1	0	3
Kimberly	Guifoyle	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
Ainsley	Earhart	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Heather	Childers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brian	Kilmead	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
Elisabeth	Hasselbeck	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Steve	Doocy	0	0	0	0	2	1	3
Bill	Hemmer	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Martha	MacAllum	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jenna	Lee	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jon	Scott	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sandra	Smith	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gretchen	Carlson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Shepard	Smith	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Neil	Cavuto	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Harris	Faulkner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Sum	8	7	6	4	17	3	45
	Percent	18%	16%	13%	9%	38%	7%	100%

As can be seen the total sample is small with some big names at Fox not even having one fact checked such as Neil Cavuto and Sheppard Smith.  It also shows that  they are not very different when it comes to honesty.  Foxnews had 47% as half truth or above and MSNBC had 52%.

The article claims that they sampled 83 Fox claims and only 15 had some truth but have no supporting data.  No criteria was given as to how they picked the claims.  They also claimed that MSNBC had factual claims at a rate of 31% but do not tell us how many were completely true as they did Fox at 8%.  My only conclusion is that they added claims by guests at least on the Fox side to get to the 83 claims (most probably politicians).

The website says this:

“Though I’m sure any conservative who might run across this article, or the Punditfact profiles, would simply dismiss the results as “liberally biased lies.” – See more at: http://www.forwardprogressives.com/fact-checking-site-finds-fox-news-tells-truth-18-percent-time/#sthash.ntzXMdAP.dpuf

Yeah, I dismiss the findings but based on at least some research I did on your site.  I wonder how many claims are made in a day on these stations.  Probably a lot more that 45 or 83 which they claim is a large sampling.

So look at the numbers for yourself and decide.  And yeah in this day and age where message is everything above truth I am reluctant to believe that a site named “Forward Progressive” is going to find Fox as anything but dishonest just as I would distrust a conservative biased site.

Thanks for ALL that Serve!

Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction.  We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodsteam.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. ~ Ronald Reagan

Veterans Day is a great day to honor the people we know that did serve in America’s armed forces.  They have sacrificed time with friends, family and even spouses to frankly, keep this country free from tyranny in many forms.  I hope that you thank a veteran today if you know any.

There are families and friends of service members that should be thanked as well.  Children that grow up with a service member parent need our thanks.  Spouses of service members need our thanks.  They need thanks for the time spent away from the people they love and sometimes  dealing with the toll on the service member once they return.

I also want to thank all citizens that work hard, obey our laws and teach our younger generations about what it is to be free.  These things are also serving our country in a real way.  Our teachers that dedicate their lives to teaching all our youth are serving our country well.  Freedom can only be had by an educated and civil people.  Our ethical business people who work hard to keep our capitalistic system going and strong contribute to our freedom as well. An economically unstable or uncertain economy can threaten our national sovereignty.

There will be some that will choose today to rant about how our country is and has not been at its best.  Oppressing certain people while hypocritically advancing values of freedom for all.  I agree America has not lived up to its values all the time.  But, only in a free and capitalistic society can these things change for the better and they have over the years.  Free people protesting the government and society on its violations against freedom and causing change is much of America’s history.

There is always a younger generation that will cause change and make society into what they think is fair and equitable for all and so further push how we act further toward our ideals.  This strengthens our society and maintains our freedoms.  So definitely thank a veteran today but don’t forget to thank people you see serving our country in other ways as well.

 

Image courtesy of gubgib at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

You Can Still Complain if you Don’t Vote

Go ahead, try it if you like. Don’t vote tomorrow and then go complain to someone how bad the country is. It can be done. In Fact it is one of your options as a U.S. citizen to use your vote any way you legally wish. You can vote for someone with the best hair, biggest car or http://aopinionatedman.com  told you to. It is your vote. Actually for all non-presidential elections both republican and democratic parties are comprised of mostly nonvoters.

No one can take your right to complain which is your right to free speech against the government. It is just a stupid thing to say, I know, I used to say it.

Not voting is saying something in itself. It could mean you don’t care or you don’t like anyone among other reasons. It is becoming more and more apparent that democrats and republican candidates do not reflect what the voters want represented, so nonvoting is a necessary option.

So I am not advocating not voting. I am also not advocating voting. I am advocating doing what you want with your vote and then go complain!

 

Image courtesy of nirots at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Happy Reformation Day!

Here is an explanation of reformation day from Desiring God

The Reformation: Trick or Treat? http://t.co/PtERQPlg17

— Desiring God (@desiringGod) October 31, 2014

 

Here are a three of my favorite reformers:

John Knox (ca. 1513 – 1572) was a Scottish religious reformer who was the leading figure in reforming theChurch in Scotland inPresbyterianism. He died in Edinburgh on November 24, 1572.

John Knox was ordained in the Catholic church sometime between 1530 and 1540. He first publicly professed theProtestant faith in 1545. The immediate instrument of his actual conversion was probably George Wishart, who, after a period of banishment, returned to his native country in 1544, to perish, within two years, at the stake, as the last and most illustrious of the victims of Cardinal Beaton.

While residing in the castle of St.Andrews, a stronghold and place of refuge for many Protestants, in July of 1547, the castle was seized by outside forces and John Knox became a French galley-slave for nineteen months. There he experienced hardships and miseries which are said to have permanently injured his health.

Due to the troubling times in Scotland, Knox went to England in 1549 and preached the Bible until the reign of Queen Mary I (1553 to 1558, a.k.a. Bloody Mary), during which time he removed himself to Frankfort Germany. There he came under the influence ofJohn Calvin. He eventually returned to Scotland after several years in Geneva, and began preaching against the Papal Church. He was arrested under Queen Mary Stuart of Scotland in 1560 and tried for treason, but was acquitted. He spent his remaining years preaching and lecturing in Edinburgh and St. Andrews.

http://www.theopedia.com/John_Knox

John Calvin (1509-1564) was a prominent French theologian during the Protestant Reformation and the father of the theological system known as Calvinism. Martin Luther and Calvin are arguably the most significant architects of the Reformation. “If Luther sounded the trumpet for reform, Calvin orchestrated the score by which the Reformation became a part of Western civilization.”

http://www.theopedia.com/John_Calvin

John Huss (1369 Southern Bohemia – July 6, 1415 Constance) was a religious thinker and reformer. He initiated a religious movement based on the ideas ofJohn Wycliffe. His followers became known as Hussites. TheCatholic Church did not condone such uprisings, and Hus was excommunicated in 1411, condemned by the Council of Constance, and burned at the stake.

http://www.theopedia.com/John_Huss

 

Image courtesy of franky242 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net