Liberal Repercussion

CHENEY'S BLUNDER DRIVES TRAFFIC

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Vice President Dick Cheney should have done a
little fact-checking of his own before he told Sen. John Edwards to get
his facts straight during Tuesday's heated face-off between the running
mates.

When urging viewers to visit a Web site that might refute some of
Edwards' statements, Cheney pointed to FactCheck.com, not the intended
FactCheck.org.

Instead, surfers were redirected to a site of outspoken Bush opponent
George Soros, where a message at the top read: "President Bush is
endangering our safety, hurting our vital interests and undermining
American values."

Not exactly what Cheney had in mind.

FactCheck.com is actually owned by an offshore company that peddles
domain names for profit. When the traffic soared following the mention,
the owners relieved their aching servers by linking to Soros' site,
unbeknownst to the billionaire financier.

Furthermore, the intended site didn't even support Cheney's claim that
Edwards was using a smoke screen. In fact, FactCheck.org, which is run
by the Annenberg Center of the University of Pennsylvania, said
"Edwards
was mostly right" regarding the vice president's role in Halliburton's
problems.

posted by Rei Toei @ 1:32 p.m.