Five More Important Lies Told In 2011 Than Politifact’s Lie Of The Year

3. Jon Stewart/Politifact: Fox News Viewers Are ‘More Consistently Uninformed’

This topic makes the list for two reasons: Jon Stewart is certainly not the first nor last one to make it, and calling it out may have been the beginning of the end for Politifact. As recent history has taught us, entities that dare challenge Stewart, rightfully or otherwise, rarely fare well shortly after that. Politifact was correct in pointing out that Stewart’s claim to Fox News’ Chris Wallace that Fox News viewers were more consistently uninformed than other news watchers was incorrect– at least at the time they did so (as explained below, this may not be true now). Stewart even went as far as to admit it– not, of course, without pointing out the laundry list of corrections Politifact bothered to gather from Fox News, but still went out of his way to apologize to the organization. To use Politifact’s terminology on the Democrats’ health care story, while some reserved themselves to pointing out corrections the network should have made on stories, “more often, Democrats and liberals overreached.”

What makes this particular point of contention more worthy of conversation now than even when Stewart apologized for being “misinformed” is that Stewart may not have been wrong, after all. A study corroborating Stewart’s claim came out last month— though using a geographically small sample size– contending that Fox viewers were particularly misinformed compared to other news consumers. If subsequent studies prove Stewart correct, then this would be Politifact’s– and not Stewart’s– lie to be responsible for. Either way, given the number of people that use Fox as their primary source of news and the impact their broadcasts have on the political discourse, this is one to keep talking about no matter who ends up being the one lying.

2. Sen. Jon Kyl: Abortions Are ‘Over 90% Of What Planned Parenthood Does’ (Not Intended To Be A Factual Statement)

Had Politifact been awarding the “lie cover-up of the year” rather than a plain lie, it is hard to see how this would not have made the bill. Yes, it was #2 in reader polls, and, for different reasons, nabs the #2 spot here. The statement was made on the Senate floor back when funding for Planned Parenthood became the central topic of discussing during budget debates, and Sen. Jon Kyl made the claim that publicly funding abortions would be a natural and significant result of funding the organization because abortions are “over 90% of what Planned Parenthood does.” When called out on the fact that the real number is actually a bit more like 3%, the Senator’s spokepeople released a note clarifying that the claim, with an actual number in it, was “not intended to be a factual statement.” Stephen Colbert took this ball and ran the furthest, with an amazing #notintendedtobeafactualstatement Twitter hashtag game and some classic segments.

1. Former Rep. Anthony Weiner: “I Was Hacked”

It was the story of the year and, somehow, seventeen thousand Republican presidential debates later, Rep. Anthony Weiner appears both gone and forgotten. Over Memorial Day weekend this year, a lewd photo of a faceless male was tweeted out of Weiner’s Twitter account. He claimed he was hacked, a claim that was significantly put into doubt when he claimed he couldn’t “say with certitude” whether the briefs in question were his. He called the police on journalists demanding answers. And finally, dramatically, after a bizarre cameo appearance by the hero of this saga, Andrew Breitbart in one press conference and raucous heckling in another, Weiner resigned, in perhaps the single most disgraceful end to a Congressional tenure since, well, probably 2007. Yes, this is a story everyone would rather forget. And sure, it isn’t quite as dignified as yet another year in health care reform lies. But ignoring what is as good a candidate as any for the single most repulsive and shameless lie of the year would be a disservice to those expecting a more earnest reminder of what sorts of disgraces our political sphere has put us through this year.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.