Reality Check Dot Com

This is pretty funny. In an effort to convince viewers of the VP debate that his dubious assertions were not entirely insubstantial, Dick Cheney quoted the Web site factcheck.com.

Factcheck.com is actually an advertising space. When the site started recieving a large number of hits, the owners diverted traffic to George Soros's Web site. Here's what Cheney supporters got to read:

"This is the most important election of my lifetime. I have never been heavily involved in partisan politics but these are not normal times. That is why I am sharing this message. I have been demonized by the Bush campaign but I hope you will give me a hearing.

President Bush ran on the platform of a ‘humble’ foreign policy in 2000. If we re-elect him now, we endorse the Bush doctrine of preemptive action and the invasion of Iraq, and we will have to live with the consequences. As I shall try to show, we are facing a vicious circle of escalating violence with no end in sight. But if we repudiate the Bush policies at the polls, we shall have a better chance to regain the respect and support of the world and to break the vicious circle."

The site Cheney actually wanted is not factcheck.com but factcheck.org - a useful site in it's own right, which will no doubt be helpful following Friday's second debate between Bush and Kerry.

Adding to the fun, factcheck.org has now posted an article on the VP debate, highlighting Cheney's lies and concluding that Edwards got his facts "mostly right".

The BBC has the full story here.