(with apologies to Al Franken.)

Does anyone remember Joe Wilson? He called President Obama a liar in the middle of a speech he was giving to a Joint Session of Congress. He wasn’t escorted out. The Sergeant at Arms didn’t go to his seat and remove him.

Vice President Biden didn’t gesture with his thumb, cartoonishly directing, “Get him out of here.”

That’s because Democrats value free speech, even if it’s rude. Even if it’s wrong. Even if Joe Wilson, was himself lying about what President Obama was saying.

Democrats, we, believe in free speech. No matter who is speaking.

However, we also believe in truth telling. In calling out lies. In calling out hypocrisy. Real hypocrisy. Real lies. Not the fake news crowd’s misinterpretations, misleading, and misinformation.

I can almost guarantee that anyone reading this will NOT be receiving a tax cut. In fact, your services will be cut even if you do not receive social services. I mean, they fired the folks who watch over and take care of our nuclear arsenal, why wouldn’t they take away the things that we need. They fired the air traffic controllers and then wonder why planes are falling out of the sky.

They’re canceling contracts (great business decision, amirite?) left and right, which in turn has people who will lose their jobs and benefits. It’s called the domino effect.

This morning, the fake agency DOGE cancelled the contract for the land that President Obama’s Presidential Library is going to be built.

And in case you missed it, the classified documents that Trump stole in his last term and stored on stage and in a bathroom at his Florida resort were just stolen back by him and flown on Air Force One because they’re “his.” Kind of like when my son cried out that the Batman his sister took was his. Except they’re not his. They belong to the American people. They belong to us. They’re classified for a reason.

---

From Alt National Parks Services on Facebook:

That speech didn’t age well. Here are some notes on the false and misleading claims.

“We won the popular vote by big numbers and won counties in our country 2,700 to 525.”
This is misleading. Trump won the popular vote in 2024 but only by a small margin (1.5%), one of the smallest in modern history.

“Illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded.”
False. February had about 8,300 border encounters, far from historic lows. In the early 1900s and 1960s, annual crossings were much lower.

“Hundreds of thousands of illegal crossings a month, and virtually all of them including murderers, drug dealers, gang members and people from mental institutions and insane asylums were released into our country.”
False. While crossings were high under Biden, there’s no evidence that most migrants were criminals or from institutions.

“I withdrew from the unfair Paris Climate accord, which was costing us trillions of dollars.”
False. The Paris Accord is nonbinding, and the U.S. set its own commitments. Trump’s cost estimates come from industry-backed studies that ignore benefits.

“We ended the last administration’s insane electric vehicle mandate, saving our autoworkers and companies from economic destruction.”
False. Biden promoted EV incentives, not a mandate. Automakers had already committed to EVs due to global trends.

“I have directed that for every one new regulation, 10 old regulations must be eliminated.”
False. No reliable metric shows Trump cut more regulations than past presidents. Studies found his claims exaggerated.

“We’ve ended weaponized government where, as an example, a sitting president is allowed to viciously prosecute his political opponent like me.”
False. No evidence Biden directed prosecutors against Trump.

“We inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.”
False. Trump inherited low unemployment, falling inflation, and strong growth.

“We suffered the worst inflation in 48 years. But perhaps even in the history of our country, they’re not sure.”
False. Inflation peaked at 9% in 2022, lower than the 1970s and post-WWII spikes.

“Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control.”
Misleading. Egg prices spiked due to bird flu, not Biden’s policies.

“The appalling waste we have already identified … We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.”
Unproven. Claims rely on questionable math, miscategorized spending, and false fraud allegations.

“…$45 million for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma …”
False. The funding was for scholarships in Myanmar, not DEI programs.

“…$10 million for male circumcision in Mozambique …”
False. It was a public health initiative to reduce HIV/AIDS.

“…$20 million for the Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East. It’s a program. $20 million for a program …”
False. The main funding came from private foundations, not U.S. government grants.

“…$59 million for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City …”
Misleading. NYC received a grant for migrant housing at standard, not luxury, rates.

“We have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work.”
False. Many federal employees telework, but Trump’s numbers are exaggerated.

“It was one of the main reasons why our tax cuts were so successful in our first term, giving us the most successful economy in the history of our country.”
False. The economy was strong, but not the best in history—other periods had higher growth and lower debt.

“Over the last three months about Mexico and Canada, but we have very large deficits with both of them. But even more important, they’ve allowed fentanyl to come into our country at levels never seen before.”
False. Mexico is the main source of fentanyl, not Canada.

“We pay subsidies to Canada and to Mexico of hundreds of billions of dollars.”
Misleading. Trade deficits aren’t subsidies, and Trump’s numbers are exaggerated.

“We have had $1.7 trillion of new investment in America in just the past few weeks.”
Dubious. Claims rely on recycled announcements, vague commitments, and unrelated Biden-era policies.

“Not long ago. And you can’t even believe these numbers. 1 in 10,000 children had autism. 1 in 10,000. and now it’s 1 in 36. There’s something wrong.”
Misleading. The rise is partly due to better diagnosis and broader definitions.

“But it was built at tremendous cost of American blood and treasure. 38,000 workers died building the Panama Canal.”
False. The actual number was under 6,000, mostly non-Americans.

“Europe has sadly spent more money buying Russian Oil and Gas than they have spent on defending Ukraine — by far!”
False. Military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine exceeded energy spending.

“We’ve spent perhaps $350 billion [on Ukraine], like taking candy from a baby. That’s what happened. And they’ve [the E.U.] spent $100 billion.”
False. U.S. aid was $183 billion, while the EU’s total support exceeded that.

“Biden has authorized more money in this fight than Europe has spent by billion and billions of dollars.”
Misleading. The EU has committed and spent more than the U.S., but disbursement rates differ.