President Obama has launched a website to help combat (re: fact check) smear campaigns heading into the 2012 election, and a Marine received the Medal of Honor for saving lives in combat. His story became a nice show of how Twitter helps bring people together -- even if those two people are a decorated hero and the President.
This is the Week in Politics & Digital.
President Obama Launches Attack Watch
President Obama always swore he wouldn't engage in "attack politics" and smear campaigns, but that hasn't stopped some of his opponents. Well, the president is fighting back with a new site called Attack Watch, designed to find out and correct any false claims made about him.
While the idea behind the site isn't revolutionary, it's been getting some heat over its design. The site is admittedly a little aggressive both in its design and its slogan, "Get the facts. Fight the smears." Some right wing bloggers have said the site's wealth of rebuttal information on Obama will actually help attackers looking for more nuggets. The site is paid for by Obama for America.
Medal of Honor Plays Out On Twitter
Corporal Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor on Sept. 8 for helping save the lives of 36 U.S. and Afghan troops by rushing into a "killing zone." Surprisingly, much of the festivities honoring Meyer showed up on Twitter.
Meyer's sole request was to share a beer with Obama. Not only was Meyer's wish fulfilled, but the White House Press Secretary (@PressSec) shared the news on Twitter along with a picture (above) of the two. At the ceremony itself, Meyer declined to comment to reporters but instead responded from his own Twitter account with: "A sincere thank you to everyone who has reached out today. Semper Fi," The Washington Post reported.