A Misleading Ad?

The National Republican Senatorial Committee has demanded that television stations cease airing an ad produced by their Democratic counterparts that apparently misleadingly blames Bob Corker for problems with Chattanooga's 911 system that occurred after the former mayor had left office. In response to those complaints, Harold Ford said that embarrassment for Corker does not mean that he can "lie about the facts."

Two observations:

1. The threat of a lawsuit probably is designed for public consumption and has little merit. First amendment protections of political speech have the latent effect of providing politicians with widespread latitude to dissimulate.

2. Politicians and pundits who accuse people of "lying" when talking about differences of policy or interpretations of facts show themselves to be lacking in civility, integrity, and moral seriousness. This is a principle that applies to Ford in this instance. It should be freely applied on a bipartisan basis.