The quote is a ficticious exchange from a book. See, you're asking a member of the Republican party to distinguish fact from fiction, reality from fantasy.

Isn't that setting the Rubrick pretty high? Like giving a 3rd grader a particle dynamics exam....

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I just got done perusing the comments on this story over at the ThinkProgress site. It certainly doesn't seem that there's much "thinking" going on among posters there. The general tone is embarrassingly juvenile (perhaps influenced by the material under consideration)...

One theme I kept picking up on (besides knee-jerk reactionary attacks on those posters who bother to hold religious beliefs, informed or not), is that it is somehow pathetic & crooked for Right-wingers to doctor photographs to make a satiric point.

This seems to be the slant here on Alternet, as well.

I'll certainly admit to not really "getting" the humor of the altered photo in question. Perhaps diapers & bunny ears hold deep comic meaning to hard-core Conservatives, especially when used in combination. I don't pretend to know, as I like my humor to be slightly more nuanced.

What's bugging me about all this is the implied assertion that doctoring photos for political satire purposes is desperate, weak & morally suspect. I'm sorry, but this is a tactic that the Left (of whom I consider myself to be a mostly proud member) USES WITH RELISH AT ANY OPPORTUNITY. Just look at any given "front page" of any number of Progressive sites on any given day, or the ads associated with such sites.

I feel pretty confident in people's ability to distinguish between pictures altered for satiric purposes (regardless of their political inclination or the actual quality level of said satire). For instance, I'm fairly certain that the average Alternet reader knows that Bush & Cheney are not currently in prison, & that US military vehicles are not actually emblazoned with corporate logos (yet). By the same token, we can assume that undecided or Conservative viewers of pictures of Al Franken holding a stuffed animal and wearing a ridiculous costume are probably not factually accurate.

So, not only is the hue & cry about the pictures pretty hypocritical, it's also somewhat insulting to the intelligences of those on both sides of the political spectrum.

What IS very much worth bringing to light regarding the press release is the false nature of the quote attributed to Mr. Franken. This, unlike the obviously fake photo, is something that could really be seen as an attempt to deliberately mislead people (actually qualifying as desperate, weak, etc.) & should be debunked, so good work there.

Otherwise, it seems Alternet, ThinkProgress & others are perhaps forgetting that their success depends in part on offering readers a break from the constant barrage of cynical hypocrisy & blatant, unquestioning partisan spin that comprises much of mainstream media outlet's offerings.

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the Republicans who for several years lauded themselves for their truthfulness, veracity etc etc ad nauseum as contrasted with the lying liberal Democrats doesn't it?

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...Maybe a pro-Republican ad, using video clips from "The Colbert Report" to reinforce their agenda?

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Per the wire links, the RNC has given up the fight: RNC: DeWine, you're on your own

The Republican National Committee confirms it will not be on the air in the final week of Mike DeWine's campaign, canceling its ad reservations throughout Ohio.

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