Summary: Forwarded email alleges that the urban legend debunking site Snopes.com is 'owned by a flaming liberal' who is 'in the tank for Obama' and cannot be trusted to provide reliable information.
Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: Oct. 2008
Status: False
Email example contributed by Elliott F., Oct. 20, 2008:
Subject: Snopes under fire
PLEASE READ!!!!!!! VERY IMPORTANT----- SNOPES EXPOSED:
Snopes under fire
I have suspected some problems with Snopes for some time now, but I have only caught them in half-truths. If there is any subjectivity they do an immediate full left rudder.
Truth or fiction.com <http://truthorfiction.com/> is the better source for verification, in my opinion.
I have recently discovered that Snopes.com is owned by a flaming liberal and this man is in the tank for Obama. There are many things they have listed on their site as a hoax and yet you can go to Youtube yourself and find the video of Obama actually saying these things. So you see, you cannot and should not trust Snopes.com.... ever for anything that remotely resembles truth! I don't even trust them to tell me if email chains are hoaxes anymore.
A few conservative speakers on Myspace told me about snopes.com <http://snopes.com/> a few months ago and I took it upon myself to do a little research to find out if it was true. Well, I found out for myself that it is true. This website is backing Obama and is covering up for him. They will say anything that makes him look bad is a hoax and they also tell lies on the other side about McCain and Palin.
Anyway just FYI please don't use Snopes.com anymore for fact checking and make your friends aware of their political leanings as well. Many people still think Snopes.com is neutral and they can be trusted as factual. We need to make sure everyone is aware that that is a hoax in itself.
Comments: Apparently it never occurred to this anonymous emailer to cite even one alleged instance of Snopes.com promulgating "half-truths" or "lies" under the guise of valid information. So much for the email's credibility.
That such a scurrilous attack should be mounted against the oldest and most popular fact-checking site on the Web in the waning days of an election year characterized from beginning to end by baseless Internet smears is doubly ironic.
Let's examine the unsupported accusations.
Is the owner of Snopes.com a liberal?
Is it true that "Snopes.com is owned by a flaming liberal" and that "this man is in the tank for Obama"?
Well, first off, Snopes.com is owned by two people, not one. They are husband and wife David and Barbara Mikkelson.
Second, the Mikkelsons' political views are between them and the ballot box. I don't know what they are; you don't know what they are; certainly the author of this email doesn't know what they are. According to a boilerplate statement issued by the site, "Neither of the operators of Snopes.com has any affiliation with, has ever made a donation to, or has ever publicly expressed support for any political party or candidate."
Anyone who has proof to the contrary should come out with it.
Is Snopes.com 'in the tank' for Obama? Do they 'tell lies' about McCain and Palin?
You'd think it would be easy for someone who blithely claims that the owners of Snopes.com are "flaming liberals" to offer evidence that they are "in the tank" for Obama. No such evidence is provided.
As of this writing there are more than three dozen rumors and hoaxes pertaining to Barack Obama and his running mate discussed on the pages of Snopes.com, each meticulously researched and evaluated with copious references cited. I have scanned them all, not to mention the twenty-odd texts relating to Republican candidates John McCain and Sarah Palin, and found no discernible pattern of bias or deception, nor any evidence of advocacy on behalf of any particular candidate or political view.
That's my assessment. I invite you to make your own.
Is TruthorFiction.com a more reliable source?
TruthorFiction.com has condemned this anonymous attack against Snopes.com and lauded the website as an "excellent" and "authoritative" resource.
What's ironic about the claim that TruthorFiction.com is more reliable than Snopes is that when you compare the contents of the two, their findings rarely diverge in any substantive way (does that mean TruthorFiction.com is biased too?).
