Over at Free Colorado, Ari Armstrong does excellent work deconstructing the silliness of Colorado Media Matters (CMM) and its well-compensated director in the debate about the New Deal.
It seems CMM has placed nearly all its intellectual eggs in one basket, the bottom of which has just fallen out. Armstrong took the initiative to contact directly the one source CMM cites to “debunk” those who note the abundant academic evidence of the New Deal’s economic failures. Unfortunately for CMM, this economist (Gene Smiley) refutes their case.
But don’t expect the Left to stop trying to shill for Barack Obama’s new massive federal spending program, no matter how little window dressing they are left with to cover their embarrassingly thin case. Thanks, Ari, for working to do a little more to expose CMM’s folly — and hypocrisy.
The premise for your post about Colorado Media Matters is false, as was the original post you cite from Ari Armstrong. Our item that is the topic of discussion clearly and explicitly cited Mr. Smiley only as a source who pointed out the difference between labor statistics that included all jobs, and those that did not. Despite the false thesis you’re parroting here, nowhere did the item either state or imply the nature of Mr. Smiley’s position on the New Deal itself.
Thank you though, for again though for adding to the already significant amount of documentation we’ve gathered regarding the use of false and misleading information by staff members, contributors and cronies of the Independence Institute. It’s been quite useful both in our own mission and in substantiating your own irrelevancy in the public debate.
Bill Menezes
Editorial Director
Colorado Media Matters
Rather than wasting time re-treading the obvious, I’ll simply quote Ari’s comment in reply to the same comment you left on his original post:
“Come on, Bill; your shrill personal attacks ring hollow by now. If you care to re-read my post, you will find that I point out precisely what you yourself claim: that “nowhere did the [Media Matters] item either state or imply the nature of Mr. Smiley’s position on the New Deal itself.”
In other words, your organization selectively cites Smiley’s work to help make your broader point, which Smiley’s broader work actually contradicts.
The fact that you unjustly call me a liar without any grounds tells my readers and yours all they need to know about you and your organization.
-Ari Armstrong”