# left wing oriented falsehoods **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 21, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933 "2010-12-21T07:14:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sundog66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@sundog66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sundog66)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/1 "2010-12-21T07:14:52Z")
The [article](http://www.alternet.org/story/149193/study_confirms_that_fox_news_makes_you_stupid/) linked to in [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=589527) thread reports a study claiming that Fox news viewers are significantly more likely than non-Fox news viewers to believe 8 of the the following 9 falsehoods: [ul] [li] the stimulus legislation lost jobs[/li][li] the health reform law will increase the deficit[/li][li] the economy is getting worse[/li][li] climate change is not occurring[/li][li] income taxes have gone up[/li][li] the stimulus legislation did not include any tax cuts[/li][li] Obama initiated the GM/Chrysler bailout[/li][li] that most Republicans opposed TARP[/li][li] Obama was not born in the U.S. (or it is unclear)[/li][/ul] The author of the article therefore concludes that “Fox news makes you stupid”. As put forth by **Fotheringay-Phipps** in post #12 of the aforelinked thread, however, these are all “right wing oriented falsehoods”. So let’s say we wanted to design a study to demonstrate that CNN makes you stupid. What left wing oriented falsehoods should we include in the study to help ensure that we get this result? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/2 "2010-12-21T07:50:06Z")
1. Clinton was impeached for getting a blowjob. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/3 "2010-12-21T08:13:39Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > 1. Clinton was impeached for getting a blowjob. In truth, he was impeached for trying to keep it secret from his wife. Which felony was worse? You be the judge, but _either_ was infinitely more damaging to the Republic than Nixon’s burglary and coverup, or Reagan’s defiance of Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/4 "2010-12-21T08:55:08Z")
Claiming that Clinton wasn’t impeached over a blowjob is nitpicking at best. Anyway, some I’ve run across over the years: #1: The term “rule of thumb” is sexist and derived from a law stating that a man can beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. That myth was debunked as far back as the 16th century IIRC, but it keeps popping up. #2: Superbowl Sunday has a spike in wife beating. #3: Women _never_ lie about sexual assault.\* #4: Primitive cultures lived in nonviolent feminist or egalitarian communal societies until the white European imperialists corrupted them. #5: Only human males rape. #6: “Sky God” religions are inherently evil, while goddess based religions are not. #7: Ancient Egyptians were black, and responsible for most or all of the advances of the ancient world but the Greeks stole the credit. #8: Nuclear power is inherently bad, while solar power and wind power can replace petrochemicals. #9: There is no inherent human nature. \*I mean, while I don’t know how often they do or not, but _never_? Come on. We’re talking about human beings here. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/5 "2010-12-21T09:39:18Z")
1. Banning or otherwise controlling “assault weapons” decreases crime 2. “Shall-issue” CCW policies increase gun-related violence Both positions are supported by the Brady Campaign and various Democratic legislators, and while I would characterize them as demonstrably false I’ll be charitable and say that such assertions are not supported by evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/6 "2010-12-21T09:44:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > #4: Primitive cultures lived in nonviolent feminist or egalitarian communal societies until the white European imperialists corrupted them. And the related “noble savage” myth that our current western food production is inherently wasteful and dangerous while “primitive” cultures lived in a state of “balance with/respect for nature” that was damn near perfect. In reality, our current food production is efficient in the extreme and feeds us maybe even too well, while starvation, wars over food and water and necessarily grossly inefficient hunting techniques\* are common among hunter-gatherers and primitive farming communities. Though I guess you can call that “balance with nature”, it’s generally not what the people espousing the view are thinking of. - my favorite example is the Native American technique of stampeding bison over cliffs, with no possible means of preserving a decent amount of the resulting meat. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/7 "2010-12-21T14:02:54Z")
You know we’ve got a political forum so you don’t have to get this boring shite in my MPSIMS, right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/8 "2010-12-21T14:49:30Z")
> [@sundog66](#): > > So let’s say we wanted to design a study to demonstrate that CNN makes you stupid. What left wing oriented falsehoods should we include in the study to help ensure that we get this result? Hmm…Finding enough people that watch CNN to make for a meaningful survey might pose a problem… ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/9 "2010-12-21T14:57:42Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Claiming that Clinton wasn’t impeached over a blowjob is nitpicking at best. Anyway, some I’ve run across over the years: > #1: The term “rule of thumb” is sexist and derived from a law stating that a man can beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. That myth was debunked as far back as the 16th century IIRC, but it keeps popping up. > > #2: Superbowl Sunday has a spike in wife beating. > > #3: Women _never_ lie about sexual assault.\* > > #4: Primitive cultures lived in nonviolent feminist or egalitarian communal societies until the white European imperialists corrupted them. > > #5: Only human males rape. > > #6: “Sky God” religions are inherently evil, while goddess based religions are not. > > #7: Ancient Egyptians were black, and responsible for most or all of the advances of the ancient world but the Greeks stole the credit. > > #8: Nuclear power is inherently bad, while solar power and wind power can replace petrochemicals. > > #9: There is no inherent human nature. > > \*I mean, while I don’t know how often they do or not, but _never_? Come on. We’re talking about human beings here. Am I the only one here who would be considered liberal but doesn’t really buy into any of these? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/10 "2010-12-21T16:09:32Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Am I the only one here who would be considered liberal but doesn’t really buy into any of these? _I’m_ liberal and I don’t buy into them. Nor do I consider the Left equally as ignorant or irrational as the Right. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t heard those things all claimed by left wing people. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/11 "2010-12-21T17:22:52Z")
“You CAN’T reduce the crime rate until you’ve eliminated poverty, which is the root cause of crime.” ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/12 "2010-12-21T18:11:45Z")
No WMD were found in Iraq Bush said Saddam was behind 9-11 Renewable energy is cost effective The reason education is poor in this country is lack of funding Health Care outcomes are worse in the US than in most industrialized countries Minimum wage laws are good for poor people Campaign contributions determine who is elected Republicans believe in trickle down economics Free trade is bad for the economy Big business is against regulating the economy Just a few that spring to mind ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/13 "2010-12-21T18:40:34Z")
I don’t think **puddleglum’s** list is the “leftwing equivalent” of the list in the OP. The OP’s list consists of things that are either provably false or are, at best, unproven. **Puddleglum’s** list are all provably true, unproven, or oversimplifications of left wing beliefs. Some examples: [ul] [li]It’s not literally true that Bush said Saddam was behind 9-11, but he and others in his administration did their best to imply it without actually saying it.[/li][li]“Health Care outcomes are worse in the US than in most industrialized countries.” I don’t think that’s a common left wing belief. The outcomes for people who receive health care are probably the same or better than in other industrialized countries. The problem isn’t with health care outcomes. The problem is with lack of health care.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/14 "2010-12-21T18:48:17Z")
When did we find WMD in Iraq? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/15 "2010-12-21T18:54:20Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > When did we find WMD in Iraq? IIRC, we did find a few rusting shells of expired chemical weapons. But nothing that mattered. And we certainly didn’t find the imaginary fleets of drones, mobile labs and so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/16 "2010-12-21T19:36:23Z")
I think Truthers are primarily on the left (if not liberal) so something around those lines might work. "Campaign contributions determine who is elected " is another nitpick. Determine no, influence, yes - unless you are a dope like Meg Whitman, of course. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/17 "2010-12-21T19:57:24Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I think Truthers are primarily on the left (if not liberal) so something around those lines might work. > > "Campaign contributions determine who is elected " is another nitpick. Determine no, influence, yes - unless you are a dope like Meg Whitman, of course. I think trutherism (is that a word?) seems to be independent of position on the political spectrum. In any case, they are not even a significant minority on the left (or the right) so I don’t think they’d belong on the list. Check out [democraticunderground.com](http://democraticunderground.com) as an example. Most people would consider the membership there to be, on average, left of mainstream Democrats, but management has segregated the truther nonsense to one forum which the majority of members avoid. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/18 "2010-12-21T20:04:38Z")
How about “conservatives view war as a useful instrument of policy, and are not so inclined to explore alternatives.” ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/19 "2010-12-21T20:11:59Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Am I the only one here who would be considered liberal but doesn’t really buy into any of these? No, you’re not the only one!🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933/20 "2010-12-21T20:16:46Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Big business is against regulating the economy Regulation written and lobbied for to obstruct small business who compete with big business? Who do you think does the writing and lobbying? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/left-wing-oriented-falsehoods/564933.md?page=2)