The Republican Wrong – Wrong Again

Routinely at Fox News Channel (fair and balanced my arse) there has been yet another attack on Barack Obama by Glenn Beck. However, Beck’s claim – that less than 10% of Obama’s Cabinet appointees have worked for the private sector – has been comprehensively debunked by PolitiFact. And it begs the question of the accuracy of Beck’s assertions, along with their apparently not being checked prior to broadcast.

Beck, with no apparent sense of irony, has defined private sector experience, partly, as “folks that have done more than write on the chalkboard”, which is the defining activity of his Fox show. Perhaps he will tell of his own entrepreneurship in a future presentation.

At least the verdict of PolitiFact was merely that Beck’s assertion was “untrue”: thus he avoided the most severe assessment – “pants on fire”. Beck has, however, attained a recent entry in this category, as have Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachmann, Orly Taitz and (you just knew this was coming) Sarah Palin.