While I may be one of the only people still undecided for the upcoming election, I came across something today that I thought was important to share with you all. A girl I know posted a video on her Facebook status and I had nothing better to do except check it out (and by that I mean, of course I had a million things better to do but procrastination seemed like the best choice).

Anyway she posted this video showing John Mccain from last March swearing numerous times to an NY Times reporter.

It already has over one hundred thousand views.

The only problem is: it’s not true. Far from it actually.

Take a look at the ORIGINAL video; it is true that the clip is showing McCain on edge when being pressed about his private conversations with John Kerry. However, he did not swear during the interview. Not even once. And now, because some guy with too much time on his hands got crafty with his computer gadget editing tools, over one hundred thousand people are judging his character over something that is just not true.

So, I’m just writing to remind you that no matter who you plan to vote for, do your research – on both sides. It’s so easy to believe the first audio snippet you hear or YouTube clip you see, but the fact of the matter is, the media loves to sensationalize and turn everything into breaking news (i.e. Jamie Lynn Spears being knocked up for the second time). (Editor’s Note: WHAT!? That isn’t true?!)

As a journalism major, I learned the importance of fact checking EVERYTHING with at LEAST two credible sources. Even minor things. My job would be so much easier if I passed things along without verifying their validity first; I would have a lot more time for Happy Hours and keg stands, for one. But, if that was the case, I also would have probably passed on hundreds of things that I thought to be true or accurate on first glance that turned out to be so 1000% false.

Things get taken out of context more often than not and the fact is, once something is out there, you can’t take it back and opinions are formed based on things that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I went to a friend’s synagogue over the Jewish High Holiday, Yom Kippur and the rabbi made a really interesting point with his sermon. He was talking about how we are all bit hearing impaired; not because we’ve spent the better part of our high school days at obnoxiously loud Backstreet Boys concerts (or was that only me?!), but because we choose what to hear and what not to. Stephen Colbert refers to this as truthiness.

The Rabbi referred to some book/study (the name I can’t remember), saying that, basically, once we believe something to be true, we only pay attention to things that prove that point. For example, if you believed wholeheartedly that Britney Spears can sing, you are more likely to tune out on the TV segment, or skip over an article in the paper, whose headline seemed to be trying to prove why in fact, she really can’t. Instead you would only focus on the articles that seemed to assure you that you are right in your beliefs. And since it’s hard to find an unbiased media source these days, it’s so easy for us to find what we want to hear and believe to be true instead of what actually is true.

So in the next few weeks, I ask that you don’t forward an email or a YouTube clip on without knowing if it is categorically correct. This does nothing more than a disservice to others… and to yourself. Before you believe what you hear spewed out by commentators, newspapers, and even the candidates themselves at debates/interviews, follow up and do the research.

So here’s to not skipping over this.

“The Barack you saw on that [debate] stage was the Barack I’ve known all my life: smart, calm, respectful, intelligent, connected. There’s only one candidate in this race who will bring that tone and tenor to the White House.”

Michelle Obama, speaking to students at Keene State College in Keene, NH yesterday.

[Is it important to you that our next President be seen as calm and respectful, or is tough and powerful more to your liking?]

Man. I wish. Actually, the second presidential debate was pretty boring, especially compared to the mud-fight we got when Palin and Biden duked it out. So what happened last night? The candidates mostly stuck to the same guns they’ve been waving all election: McCain pounding home his foreign policy experience (and his opponent’s lack thereof) and Obama preferring to stick to what many see as a more “in-touch” attitude on domestic concerns. Lots of stump speech sound bites were recycled, and, as usual, there wasn’t that much actual debate.

McCain started the night in a rougher place than before, as the flailing economy and sliding poll numbers gave the Republican senator plenty of ground to catch up on.

It wasn’t a problem for him overall, though; he managed to fight Obama to a standstill on most issues, (including the economy, and it’s hard going being a Republican on the economy today), and nobody blew themselves out of the water with embarrassing gaffes. Nothing last night is going to change the dynamic of the race, though, and that’s not terribly good news for McCain.

Some particularly good (or bad) moments for each candidate:

THUMBS UP:

- Obama connecting with the people. During the audience questions, Obama fielded one on the bailout from “Oliver” pretty handily: “Well, Oliver, first, let me tell you what’s in the rescue package for you. Right now, the credit markets are frozen up and what that means … is that small businesses and some large businesses just can’t get loans. If they can’t get a loan, that means that they can’t make payroll. If they can’t make payroll, then they may end up having to shut their doors and lay people off. And if you imagine just one company trying to deal with that, now imagine a million companies all across the country.” Simple — perhaps too simple — but an effective way to turn an abstract issue into a real chummy sort of thing, and a nice response to silence critiques that Obama is too “professorial”.

- McCain’s snappy response on whether he’d wait for the approval of the UN Security Council before aiding Israel in the event of a military crisis. This debate featured lots of qualifiers to stances and lots of question-dodging. Like it or not, McCain’s definitive answer — “let me say that we obviously would not wait for the United Nations Security Council” — was a welcome moment of clarity, especially when contrasted to Obama’s milquetoast response involving “using all the tools at our disposal.” The “Straight Talk Express” shtick carried McCain through the primary, and more moments like this would have helped his performance.

- McCain’s cute jokes. Obama’s got the style game all sewn up, but McCain does have a certain gravelly charisma when he loosens up a bit. “Hey, I’ll answer the question,” he quipped after a particularly long-winded Obama response, and while it’s pretty obvious that nobody really answers questions straight-on in a presidential debate anyway, McCain managed to sound a lot more appealing when his smiles came easily.

-Obama sets his priorities. Stealing a little bit of the Straight Talk thunder, Obama was up-front about his priorities: environment first, health care second, education third. McCain dodged the same question, responding, as if in a fairy tale, that “we can do them all at once”.

THUMBS DOWN

-Obama makes faces. Obama spent a lot of time fuming after particularly pointed McCain barbs — the issue of tax reform in particular had him clearly riled up. Righteous rage is appealing sometimes, but it often looked as if McCain had a better handle on his own body language between questions.

-McCain’s less-cute jokes. “Did we hear the size of the fine?” interjected McCain, after Obama discussed his tax plan. We get it, Obama never stated it explicitly, but shoving a joke in at the end of the opposing side’s rebuttal just felt petty. Similarly, the crack about how nice it was to finally see Obama in a town-hall setting felt petulant and bitter.

THUMBS EH?

-Obama defers to Michelle. “What don’t you know and how will you learn it?” went the last question. Obama’s response? “My wife, Michelle, is there and she could give you a much longer list than I do. And most of the time, I learn it by asking her.” Am I the only person that thought Obama was referring to his prowess in the sack? I am? Okay. Fine.

-McCain has many heroes. Invoking the GOP greats is a fine strategy, but both President Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt were “my hero” at different points in the night, according to McCain. I’m surprised he didn’t go further: remember, Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. Or how about pioneer of laissez-faire economics Adam Smith? Or why not me? I’m great. Sheesh.

Did you watch the presidential debate last Friday night?  We did (and we included some good friends, two bottles of wine, and double-stuff Oreos), and even though we tried very hard, a lot of what was said was hard to follow — especially since both McCain and Obama would not. stop. SMIRKING while their opponent was talking.  Those “my opponent is ridiculous” smiles were plain ridiculous.

Practiced grins and political doublespeak notwithstanding, something that a lot of people were talking about this weekend was the issue of John McCain refusing to look at Barack during the entire debate.  While Obama kept his gaze on the camera, on the moderator, and on John, McCain just couldn’t seem to bring himself to look Obama in the eye.

Some political analysts are saying McCain completely disrespected Obama, “dismissing” him multiple times as well as keeping his eyes anywhere but on the Senator’s face.  What do you think? Did you watch the debate? (If not, catch it HERE) Did you notice this?  How would you interpret McCain’s tactic?

[photo from LATimes.com]

An Internet programmer (or…whoever) in the McCain camp seems to be pretty sure of a few things.  The small ad appeared this morning, and while we’re too tired right now to make any snarky jokes, we will admit that nothing says I AM AWESOME like an American flag background.

McCain gets his ass to the Mississippi debates

How to not get arrested: Be Shia LaBeouf

A shopping high without spending the cash?

Natalie Portman dumps Jesus

We don’t need no gym!

The first woman to pay for space travel

Brit, he ain’t worth it!

So…scared…can’t…type

Why don’t they just open up a zoo?  A child zoo.

Oh snap!  The Hef is bankrupt?!

Must Buy: adorable little wristlets

We LOVE you, Sacha Baron Cohen!

Happy Lumberjack Day!!

Sigh…Ed McMahon sells his soul

Man, the Internet is just full of scary sh*t today