The Colbert Report did a fun segment on fact-checking Wednesday night with a rather entertaining exchange between Colbert, Jake Tapper and Bill Adair. Colbert says: “I’m a huge fan of the Sunday morning talk shows. There like a grown up version of Saturday morning cartoons, only the cartoons have more productive debates!” (He then showed a Looney Tunes clip of an argument between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck: "Duck season!...Wabbit season!...Duck season!") The whole appeal of the Sunday shows is like being a fly on the wall for the ultimate insider’s cocktail party, only instead of a crab dip canape, their serving horses__t!” ABC’s News’ Jake Tapper is interviewed regarding the fact checking of his show and the purpose of Sunday shows pundits in general, which appears to be: “To drive home their ideas through repetition, if you repeat it, it’s true and through repetition something becomes true, if you repeat it enough until it becomes true! Do I need to repeat that for you?....It’s not a Sunday host's job to make sure his guests aren't lying, any more than it's a party host's job to make sure the food isn't poisoned….the host is there to tell his guests when it is their turn to talk!" Tapper: “I’m supposed to check the facts but we augment this by using Politifact to check the facts on our show.” Colbert turns to Politifact editor Bill Adair: “Who watches Politifact?” Adair answers: “The voters watch us, but ultimately, we need to be the referee, American politics needs a referee." Well, it seems obvious to the rest of us that talk show pundits and politicians should simply research their facts and figures before speaking, like the rest of us ordinary folk do. Unswerving integrity will go a long way with the American people!
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