Is this the new Gore invented the Internet?

(For the record, I seriously doubt it.)

Evidently, McCain is claiming he created the Do Not Call List. Kudos to the great people at Think Progress, who quickly discovered that it's a blatant lie:

This week, 16 months into his campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) released his first policy paper on technology. Over at the Wonk Room, former Clinton administration privacy counselor Peter Swire notes that the paper gives McCain credit for “creating” the “Do Not Call” list. But the Federal Trade Commission chairman announced the list two years earlier:

McCAIN: 2003 – McCain led in creating the FTC’s ‘Do-Not-Call’ telemarketing registry to allow consumers to opt out of receiving telemarketing calls. And, when the law was challenged in court, McCain led the effort to ensure that it was upheld.

REALITY: FTC Chairman Tim Muris announced in October 2001 that the FTC was going to do the Do Not Call list. Yet somehow McCain magically caused the Do Not Call list in 2003. And, given the independent agency status of the FTC, it is a stretch to say that ‘McCain led the effort to ensure that it was upheld.

The paper also says that the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act “became law in 2000.” In fact, the law was enacted in 1998.

Hmm, let me guess, it's the "librual media" who is focusing on the McCain lies, right?

Actually, no - the media is currently obsessed with a plethora of issues that have zero effect on an overwhelming majority of Americans - John Edwards' sex life, crazy mothers who may or may not have killed their kids, spreading lies about the "benefits" of more domestic oil drilling, and, of course, Michael Phelps. Okay, I love Phelps, and it IS a great story, but even that coverage is wildly unfair and far-fetched - you'd think he's the only American competing in Bejing.

I gave up on our so-called media long ago, but that doesn't mean I'll ever stop criticizing it. The McCain mischaracterizations get virtually no press, if it weren't for the Internet. Just about every day, for some reason or another, I say to myself, Thank GOD for the Internet - it's all we have left. And the 'Net? McCain is very notably against Net Neutrality, too, which is beyond outrageous. More on that later today - there was a pretty important development on the Net Neutrality front this past week, but that warrants a separate post.