This morning, the French political party UMP (they run for President Sarkozy) tried to generate a buzz as François Hollande (his main opponent for 2012 - at least we hope it's not Marine Le Pen- a socialist) was supposed to have declared that Sarkozy is a "dirty guy" (sale mec in French).UMP politicians tried to widen the rumor and generated some appearances in front of TV teams.
What's interesting is that in France, in order to make a news BIG, you still need to wait 8pm, and our primetime TV for news (we only have one time zone, remember ). But even before this potential smasher, a counterstrike occured: people who were present during the supposed quote were quickly interviewed, in order to refute & contradict UMP attempt. Media and social networks played their games, and one more time the trick was dismantled
It's an illustration of the main weakness of UMP: refutations now prune lies. Good news!