Correcting the record. In an age where people seem to be basically clueless and the press is more interested in playing "gotcha" than talking about the issues it's important to get the "gotcha" out of the way, so it doesn't fester, and so we can move on to some issues.

Accordingly I write this to correct a smear that was spread here and elsewhere so perhaps we can talk about the financial crisis, or the food riots, or the guy who may have found a way to effectively treat cancer, or something else, anything else.

So there was an attempt to paint Sen. Obama a liar based on his answer about a questionnaire on which various answers to various questions, including supporting state legislation banning the manufacture and sale of handguns in Illinois, appear.

An unnamed diarist pointed to a PDF that showed "handwriting" on a questionnaire. Something that Sen. Obama denied. Well sort of. He denied there was any handwriting on the questionnaire that referenced guns.

Who is right?

Well an examination of the PDF file shows that there are two questionnaires that have been condensed into one file.

The first questionnaire has been faxed. It has handwriting on it but no questions about guns.

The second questionnaire was not faxed. It has no handwriting and has typed in yes/no answers about guns. AFAIK, Sen. Obama said he didn't do that one personally.

Now it took me a minute to notice this but I must imagine that the sites and diarists posting this had the same amount of time to review the PDF and the same capacity for analysis as I have. I can only conclude it was a purposeful attempt at spreading misinformation. That's problematic and those who spread it, and are unwilling to correct their error, should be shunned. Though such fabrications are really a symptom of where America is at right now, the symptom needs to be treated along with the underlying condition.