Thursday, July 17, 2008

Don't Let Readers Make Stupid Inferences

"Past performance does not guarantee future results."

"We are talking about averages here. Some women are actually taller than many men. Every individual is different"

"Obama is not the same person, nor a disciple of, Osama (Bin Laden)"

You always have to put these disclaimers in there, because otherwise you are aiding and abetting false inferences by the great unwashed.

The latest kerfluffle over Obama reminded me that outrage has little cost as a negotiating gambit. Say you are offended and hope for some act of contrition, if not legal damages. In today's zeitgeist, you have to really push it to be publicly rebuked, though I suspect in private, most people find this tactic tiresome.

So I want to state for the record, that drawings that will probably be misconstrued by morans, even though demonstrably false, show bad judgment or taste. Only accurate pictures, such as those taken in Obama's Houston campaign office, or Ohio state court judge James Burge (who recently blocked the state's death penalty), should be shown. That way, no one takes the wrong inference.

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