Quote Originally Posted by Dr_BuzzCzar View Post
Most (but not all) are annotated with when and where. They are snapshots of the changes this particular politician has made in his stances and what I believe to be insights into him as a man. I worked for Sen McCain in 2000 in SC. I was badly disappointed in the turns he took after 2004. I no longer believe I know where he really stands. Couple that with an overspending administration and incredibly ineffective foreign policy decisions and I am ready for a change. From my perspective the Republicans have lost their way as a party. The party of Rockefeller, Goldwater, Reagan is not well represented by this current crop. maybe they resurface as the fiscally conservative, small government party that really does care about people. I hope so.

Sorry, that is not journailistic attribution, what you have provided really gives no way for an intelligent thinker to determine if the quote ever was 1)actually said, 2) taken out of context or is 3) true. If a person did not actually hear something being said in a live context (video, etc) or in person, that person should take the time (as previously mentioned) to validate some of the outlandish things being attributed to politicians in this election or any other.


There is a good defintion of attribution and journalistic ethics on this url: http://www.dailypress.com/services/s...1750.htmlstory.

excerpts:


ATTRIBUTION

Attribution is to a newspaper story what footnoting is to a dissertation. It lets readers know where our information comes from. Relatively little of what we report is based on our own direct observation; we rely mostly on information gathered from others: human sources, government documents, library research, etc.

The attribution we attach to the information we publish allows our readers to judge for themselves the quality of our sources and of the information those sources provide. It tells them we have done our homework, that we don't just invent what we print.

Part of any complete attribution is a complete identification of the source, particularly a human source. The motives of those who press their views upon journalists must be routinely examined, and, where appropriate, revealed to the reader. That way, the reader can judge just as the reporter did the quality of the information being presented, whether it's from an impartial observer or from someone who gains by a particular spin on the truth.

end of excerpt

With the growth of the wacko partisan blogs and weakening of overall journalistic integrity, validating a statement and source is more important than ever when you try to make an informed decision.