Politicians: Are they lying or just stupid?
After reading a couple of recent Presidential Debate transcripts lately, I decided I would propose a new format: Kick the candidates out after they say something that is indisputably false. Then, the winner can be the last one standing. I estimate we’ll have a winner in about 10 minutes.
Even with Hanlon’s razor (”Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.”), I can’t figure out if these politicians are really stupid, or lying because they think we’re really stupid. Unfortunately, it is probably the case that we’re all really stupid; but that’s too depressing of a thought for a sunny Friday afternoon. :-)
Despite your political views, I think you’ll find these examples to just be incredible. First, from the Democratic debate, responding to a question about the legal drinking age, Senator Biden said,
The cost of alcoholism in America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical. There are 300,000 babies born deformed every year in this country because of women who are alcoholics while they’re carrying those children to term.
That number just doesn’t pass the sniff test: 300,000 deformed babies a year due to alcoholism? Let’s check it out, the US birth rate is 14.14 births per 1000 people per year. This means with a population of just about 300 million, there are 4.2 million births a year. This means according to Biden’s number, 7% of all babies are born with deformities due to alcoholism.
Seems pretty unlikely. In fact, the Center for Disease Control says that between 1,000 and 6,000 babies are born with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. So Biden only inflated his number by about a factor of 100.
And from the Republican debate, Senator Brownback says, “We declared war [on Iraq].” This most certainly isn’t the case, the US hasn’t declared a war since WWII. Granted, Congress did authorize the conflict, but it never formally made a declaration. While you could argue it’s a minor distinction, it is a distinction that US Senator should be able to make.
So under my proposed format, both of these Senators would be kicked out for lying. But, it may be more fun if let the audience throw tomatoes at the politicians when they lie. Then at the end, the cleanest one would be the winner. :-)
Jacqueline Lamberton wrote:
It is the same in the UK; whereas there are those Members of Parliament and journalists, who always seem to - incorrectly - pick up facts.
There was the airport worker, suspended because she wore a cross but journalists and “a spokesperson,” kept referring to it as a crucifix, which it certainly was not.
Then of course there was the Falklands War; which it certainly was not; the UK never declared war on Argentina or Argentina on the UK but we still have the M.P.’s and Journalists who refer to it as the Falklands War
It was a conflict.
Many, on both sides made the greatest sacrifice but historically, the fact remains that it was a conflict.
The main problem is, that once these “speakpeople,” get on camera, they cannot get their mouths in gear with their brains.
END
Posted on 30-Sep-07 at 11:53 pm | Permalink
Defenestrating Thoughts from the Bivouac » $5,000 for every kid? Nah, throw in a pony and you have a deal. wrote:
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Posted on 01-Oct-07 at 5:16 pm | Permalink
Defenestrating Thoughts from the Bivouac » Ron Paul, Hope for America, and the Tea Party of 2007 wrote:
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