Savage Politics has made an astonishing catch. (At least, that was the first site to bring the matter to my attention.)
In his first general election ad (
here), Barack Obama brags that he "extended health care for wounded troops." As you can see in this frame capture,
this claim is backed by a citation of Public Law 110-181, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008.
That Act was very popular, receiving nearly unanimous support in the Senate.
One of the very few Senators who did not vote for Public Law 110-181 was Barack Obama.Has this outrageous fib received any mention on TPM or DU? No. You know full well that those sites would have screamed like air raid sirens if the ads pushed Clinton or McCain or anyone
but Obama.
Kos published a defense of the ad, claiming that Obama had authored sections of the Act even if he would not vote for it. As though anyone should trust Kos after that site pushed the "darkened video" hoax, the "Hillary caused NAFTA-gate hoax," the "Hillary called for Obama's assassination" hoax, and numerous other vile smear-jobs.
Not long ago, I saw an amusing exchange on one of the anti-Obama blogs. A reader asked how Obama would have voted on the AUMF if he had been in the Senate, and if the 9/11 attackers had targeted the Sears Tower.
Another reader gave the obvious answer:
"Present!"