Way back in December of 2003 there was a post on these pages -- click to see it -- about Snopes.com, and its proprietors, Barbara and David Mikkelson. Lately there have been a lot of people visiting that post via search engines. This happens to all bloggers, and most times we never find out why the sudden interest.
Well, this time I know why. There's an email rumor circulating which is highly critical of snopes.com and accusing the proprietors of pro-Obama, anti-McCain bias. I received what I think is that email, and here are some highlights:
"Very Interesting.
Subj: SNOPES a hoax? ...
"I have suspected some problems with Snopes for some time now, but I have only caught them in half-truths. If there is any subjectivity they do an immediate full left rudder.
"Truth or fiction.com truthorfiction.com is the better source for verification, in my opinion.
"I have recently discovered that Snopes.com is owned by a flaming liberal and this man is in the tank for Obama. There are many things they have listed on their site as a hoax and yet you can go to Youtube yourself and find the video of Obama actually saying these things. So you see, you cannot and should not trust Snopes.com....ever for anything that remotely resembles truth! I don't even trust them to tell me if email chains are hoaxes anymore. ..."
So when a person receives such an email what does one do with it? Do some fact checking before forwarding. Take a look at the website the email claims is a better source, truthorfiction.com, and lo and behold, right there near the top of the list is a link to an article debunking that very email. Excerpt:
Snopes.com is a secret tool of the Democratic Party to promote Barack Obama- Fiction!
Summary of the eRumor:
An eRumor about Snopes.com accusing them being owned by a flaming liberal and this man is in the tank for Obama.
/snip/
The bottom line is that if you try to report the truth, there will be those who don't like the truth you've reported and who will develop suspicions about why you did.
That, in our view, is what is happening with Snopes.
The 2008 presidential campaign has been one of the most intense and unique in our nation's history and has prompted more political eRumors than any presidential campaign in our experience, especially about Barack Obama.
These anti-Snopes emails have probably been prompted by someone who does not like Barack Obama and does not like the fact that Snopes (or TruthOrFiction.com for that matter) has debunked some of the emails that are not true about him.
One of the versions of the eRumor mentions TruthOrFiction.com and recommends our site. We appreciate that, but we want to say for the record that we've had nothing to do with this eRumor about Snopes.com and we condemn it. updated 10/21/08
Ouch. What we need now is someone who can fact check the fact checkers.
How can you still say that Obama has produced an authentic birth record. He has not! There is now an updated case filed by Phlip Berg, a Democratin the Supreme Court asking that Obama produce a "Certified" birth certificate, not a record of live birth. See obamaforgery.com for the video of Dr. Polarik who is an authority of fraudulent documents. Our Constitution is threatened and its laws must be followed. John McCain had to produce his...why is not Obama held to the same scrutiny? You are just another source keeping the people from the truth.
Posted by: Sandy Hutton | November 26, 2008 at 10:30 AM