Fact-checking Obama executive orders: Has he signed the most in history?

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A Facebook friend from college posted a meme this morning claiming President Obama has signed 900 executive orders — more so than any other president in history — and purporting to outline several of those orders, along with a bunch of “New World Order” conspiracy nonsense. It asked, “Where is the media?” and also said, “Don’t believe it? Just Google it for yourself.”

Well, I’m here and I did.

Then I politely pointed out that Obama executive orders totaled 139 through Sept. 25 (it’s 140 as I write this) and that EVERY SINGLE ONE on her list was actually signed by a previous president (the first was signed by JFK). I shared a link to FactCheck.org, run by the non-partisan Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, which explained all this in well-sourced detail and told her I’m sorry, but it looked like she’d been had.

How did she thank me? By asking why I have to “always be such a downer,” accusing me of supporting a candidate I don’t support (I am Switzerland) and deleting me from Facebook. I guess it’s probably a good thing I didn’t point out that President George W. Bush signed 291 executive orders during his two terms of office. But, hey, Obama’s still got some time to catch up to him.

That, my friends, is a pretty good illustration of what’s wrong with America today. A well-educated adult who purports to be a Christian but has no problem spreading deceit and outright lies in support of their own personal agenda is far more dangerous than a whole Ryder truck full of terrorists.

I support her right to tell lies, but I guess she doesn’t support my right to call her on those lies — even though she specifically asked for it. Either way, I’ll never buy any Mary Kay from her (and that’s what I think makes America great).

Tags: 2012 Elections, 2012 Presidential Election, Barack Obama, Facebook, Fact Checking, George W. Bush, Memes, Politics, Social Media

Category: Reality Bytes