Editorial: Keep an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out

Issue of Sept. 19, 2008

In a frenzied political season there may be just two kinds of people. No, not Democrats and Republicans. We’re referring to the kinds of people who forward an indiscriminate flow of e-mails without bothering to determine if the information contained therein is even remotely accurate — and everyone else.

A small subset of the second group would be the folks who take it upon themselves to either confirm or debunk those e-mails.

Some fulfill this important task by performing studious original research while others utilize work done by others in checking the veracity of an endless stream of claims and counterclaims. Then, the most dedicated among them take the time to respond to the original sender and make sure to alert him or her (it’s usually a him) to the fact that they’ve just distributed outright falsehood or stupidity to 350 of their closest friends.

The ascension of Senator Barack Obama as the presidential nominee of the Democrat party spurred the launch of countless absurd e-mails. Didja hear? Obama’s a Muslim! No, he’s a terrorist! No, he’s a Martian. The rumors and, occasionally, rebuttals flew without pause, it seemed, for months leading up to the nominating conventions.

But the best was yet to come.

Senator John McCain, who many had expected to make a safe and boring choice of running mate, blew everyone’s mind with his last minute selection of Governor Sarah Palin.

There’s been no shortage of hysterical e-mail messages about her, her family, her record as mayor of a small town, and her record as governor of Alaska.

Sometimes, even the smartest among us are sucked in to the frenzy. One extremely critical thinker of our acquaintance held forth at length the other night on a 90+ title list of books Sarah Palin supposedly sought to ban when she became mayor of Wasilla. Some frequently banned books are on the list — Huckleberry Finn, some Judy Blume novels, for instance — but others like Death of a Salesman, and even some Stephen King novels, seemed odd choices, to say the least, soon leading even the committed Republicans in the conversation to admit that something was a little off — that perhaps Palin wasn’t just a banner of books, but an inept one, at that.

Then reason reasserted itself. Here’s the truth, from the easy-to-consult politifact.com/truth-o-meter website, assembled by the St. Petersburg Times:

“Inundated with questions about the issue, Wasilla Mayor Diane M. Keller released a statement saying, “We have no records of any books being ‘banned or censored’ ever.”

Hmmm.

Take a look at the site — there’s lots more, plus detailed research into various claims by the candidates. In this overheated political season, it’s well worth reading.