There’s lie, damned lies and politics. I know that’s not how the saying goes but it may as well be given how the Republicans have run their Presidential campaign. Anyway, let’s start off with Nina Dobrev. 

Political reporters hate covering this year’s US Presidential election. They’re complaining that the campaigns are trying to control the narrative. Here’s an idea: Grow a pair and be reporters. Make them tell the truth and report the truth if they lie. (Politico)

The problem is that the Republicans’ lies have launched us into something you could call post-truth politics. (Grist)

The Republicans have jumped on the news that the US national debt has increased to $16 trillion. The problem with their glee is that their man is only going to make the debt much, much worse. (Talking Points Memo)

After the jump, more on the truths the Republicans are ignoring, a look inside the big business of ESPN and how the Rebels should have defeated Darth Vader.

The other thing that the GOP is jumping on is jobs. However, the Obama presidency has resulted in job creation. I’d say that’s better off than how Dubya left things. (Washington Post)

The Republicans are trying to vilify Obamacare as destroying Medicare but it’s actually giving health care back to the people. (Forbes)

The other big complaint about Obamacare is that it costs too much. However, moving to a single-payer/taxpayer-funded system doesn’t necessarily cost more. Health care spending  as a percentage of GDP actually costs less in Canada than America. (New York Times)

And just to show that they’re always willing to be unreasonable, the Republicans have already said they’ll obstruct Obama any chance they get. That’s actively threatening to harm the country. And people still plan to vote for them? (TPM)

Good-ish news: The mainstream media have discovered Reddit, thanks to President Obama’s AMA, and feel obligated to profile it. (New York Times)

One of Lance Armstrong’s ex-teammates has written a book about the culture of cycling while Lance was winning all his Tour de France titles. (Outside)

How big of a business is ESPN? It’s so big that Bloomberg did a feature-length profile on it and how it influences sports and cable. (Bloomberg Businessweek)

A lot of people were surprised at how good a speaker Paul Ryan was at the RNC. It turns out, though, that he’s a crap motivational speaker. He “motivated” Miami of Ohio to a 46-point loss in their season opener. (Sports Grid)

Have you seen what the original plan for the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was? Michael Bay says that it’s not his script but whoever’s it is, it’s an unmitigated disaster. (Pajiba)

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this before but my high school guidance councillor thought I was so funny that she wanted to get me an apprenticeship at Second City in Toronto. Living in Sault Ste. Marie, I had no idea how she was planning to do that (and I don’t think that she knew exactly how to deliver on her promise either) so I declined her offer. It turns out that if I graduated high school two years later, I could have gone to Chicago and enrolled in Second City’s Comedy Studies program. (SplitSider)

The NFL season starts tonight. To get you geared up for the season, here’s a comparison of NFL quarterbacks to video game weapons. (SB Nation)

Speaking of video games, everyone who had an N64 loved Goldeneye. Recently, more and more information came out about the game’s development. Here’s a thorough history of the making of Goldeneye. (Joystiq)

What would happen if Scorpion and Ryu did battle in real life?

Keeping with game crossovers, here’s Super Mario Brothers crossed with Call of Duty.

The Rebel Alliance didn’t need Luke Skywalker and a bunch of one-man starfighters to take down the Empire. They needed a dog.