In the 1970s, one of the more popular nonpartisan watch-dog organizations was the Fair Campaign Practices Committee (FCPC). It was run by Missouri journalism professor Sam Archibald. Today, it would be referred to as a fact-checking organization.
Basically, it would review campaign advertising and statements to determine if what was said is true. It would then issue public statements when it was determined that voters were being provided with misinformation – lies. As a preventative, candidates were asked to sign a Fair Campaign Practices Committee pledge. That was also widely publicized.
The FCPC also co-sponsored a Washington-based congressional internship program for journalism students intending to pursue political and public affairs reporting careers. Sear, Roebuck & Co. was the other co-sponsor. I am very familiar with the FCPC and the internship program because I was working in Sears’ Washington office with supervisory responsibilities over the programs.
One of the FCPC’s principal advice to voters was to ignore any new developments or accusations that arise in the last 30 days of a campaign – especially if they did not provide hard evidence and an adequate opportunity for a response. The Committee was concerned about statements and claims that could not be proven by those making the accusations – or disproved by those being accused.
As can be expected, we are seeing the concern of the FCPC playing out in today’s election – and as a voter, I will take the advice of the FCPC and ignore them. Here are two examples.
General John Kelly
The first is former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s sensational accusations that President Trump is a fascist – and an admirer of Adolph Hitler (or at least his generals). No matter what one may think of Kelly, and his service to the nation, the timing of his description of Trump raises suspicion.
He has not made such a public accusation for more than 7 years – and decided to go public only within days of the 2024 election? Apparently, Kelly did not feel honor bound to raise a concern when Trump ran in 2020. There can be no doubt that Kelly’s motivation was purely political – whether one believes him or not.
Trump denies saying such things – and others in the room support Trump’s denial. It is nothing more than a he said/he said situation. Folks can only choose to believe who they believe because there is no solid evidence one way or the other.
In a feeble attempt to give Kelly’s statement an appearance of credibility, a number of disgruntled former White House workers issued a statement that what the General said “sounds like” something Trump might have said. They are not corroborating the accusation because they, like you and I, were not in the room to hear it. Even if there was conversation regarding Hitler’s generals, we do not know the all-important context. What is Kelly’s spin – and there always is a spin.
While the anti-Trump media is giving Kelly’s statements maximum coverage and credibility, the fact-checker Snopes rates Kelly’s statements as “unproven.”
I do not know the truth in this situation, but I am very suspicious based on the timing. So, I will take the FCPC’s advice and disregard the entire subject as having no relevancy
Stacey Williams
One time professional model Stacey Williams claims that she was “groped” by Trump in his office in the presence of sexual pervert Jeffery Epstein. Unlike the Kelly claim – which I disregard because I simply do not know the truth – I will disregard this because I consider Williams’ story to be overly hyped … exaggerated … or even a lie — purely for partisan political reasons. At least Kelly can make some claim to personal credibility. Not Williams.
According to Williams, the “groping” involved Trump rubbing his hands along her side and toward her buttocks. (That sounds like what wheelchair-bound President George H.W. Bush is alleged to have done to writer Christina Baker Kline while posing for a photograph alongside his wife and in the presence of security, staff and photographers. But I digress.)
Williams said this happened while Epstein – who she was dating at the time – was watching. Watching what? Her getting a friendly (or even an overly friendly) pat on the posterior? Williams claims that she felt like she was brought there as a “piece of meat”. Does she mean that Epstein and Trump had connived to entice her to Trump’s office so she could have her butt pinched while her weirdo boyfriend watched? Sounds like Williams is making a mountain out of a molehill – or in this case a butte out of a butt.
When you consider that Willims is a longtime Democrat activist — a Harris supporter, who recently attended the Vice President’s “survivor” event — the entire thing sounds too contrived. I cannot imagine that a pat on the butt 30 years ago qualifies her as a “survivor”. Maybe something more serious occurred in her lifetime, but nothing like that was revealed. But she did talk about the incident with Trump as if it was traumatic.
Do not expect this story to end up in court. It would get thrown out — even in New York. It is so bad that it is shameful that media types would even air it – and no fact checking. Instead, today’s journalists give the accusations inordinate coverage for their own partisan political purposes.
If you take the FCPC’s wise advice, you will toss these bits of last minute political chicanery in your mental recycle bin and pay more attention to really important issues – the issues that really affect you..
Unfortunately, we do not have a Fair Campaign Practices Committee to objectively monitor campaign narratives – and to constantly remind us that last minute unsubstantial accusations should be dismissed out of hand. But we can still take its advice to ignore unsubstantiated election-eve accusations.
So, there ‘tis.
The post Time to ignore last minute campaign rhetoric and vote appeared first on The Punching Bag Post.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: Larry Horist
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, http://punchingbagpost.com and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.