Politics: Politifact’s “Lie of the year”: How did “government takeover” take hold?
- Takeovers are like coups. They both lead to dictators and a loss of freedom.
- GOP strategist Frank Luntz • Making the argument that the GOP should use the phrase “government takeover” in regards to the Obama health care bill – a phrase that has stuck despite the fact that the bill no longer actually has a public option which could be perceived as a “government takeover.” The phrase is now Politifact’s “Lie of the Year,” an award that is probably a better fit in this context than the “we’ve been eating healthy lately” context. Why did the lie propagate? Well, it’s hard to refute it in a handful of words. It actually requires some explaining, something which many news outlets chose not to do. source