Media Matters on Michele Bachmann's Lie on Larry King

How to invent a scandal with a single punctuation mark
Here's an urgent question: Is The Weekly Standard funding its operations by selling drugs to children?
As Media Matters' Jamison Foser explained earlier this week, the addition of a question mark at the end of the previous sentence allows me to suggest something entirely baseless without accepting responsibility for it. And that's exactly what occurred recently when the Standard's John McCormack suggested that Obama had appointed Scott M. Matheson Jr. to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to influence the health care vote of Matheson's brother, Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT).
No evidence was provided to back up the claim -- but as Foser explained, "John McCormack doesn't need evidence -- he has question marks!" Remarkably, even though some conservatives quickly distanced themselves from the accusation, many others did not. The story was soon getting attention on Fox News and The Fox Nation, on the blog Hot Air, at RedState.com, from Michelle Malkin, from Hannity and Beck, and on the Drudge Report, among others.
And of course, since the right-wing media issue the marching orders for the movement these days, on the March 3 edition of CNN's Larry King Live, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) called for an investigation.
Even though plenty of countervailing evidence was soon produced -- indeed, even McCormack, the claim's originator, may have begun to walk it back -- the smear continued (especially on Fox & Friends, which must assume its early-morning viewers are too groggy to understand what they're being told).
Politico also helped hype the story, publishing an article headlined "Some Republicans criticize judge pick." But the paper could only come up with one such Republican: Bachmann. By contrast, Politico cited two Republicans who praised the nomination, including one who directly refuted the conspiracy theory. Finally, in a last-ditch effort to keep the "story" alive, media conservatives began arguing that it may now be illegal for Jim Matheson to vote in favor of health care reform legislation due to his brother's appointment. Predictably, this, too, was baseless.
As the story continues to fall apart, it's worth remembering how often the right invents scandals to tarnish Democrats. No question mark needed there.

Ofcourse, DB regulars know it is not news that Michele Bachmann tells a lie. It's news when she's telling the truth.