Will-o-the-Wisp

Mankind too often has a insidious way of pushing a program or an ideology … particularly in this day of the ever-increasing pace of technology and communications … be it social media, Internet publishing, congressional law-making, financial derivatives, climate change "science," etc. … and that is what I chose to call "convoluted complexity." By this I mean that the real truth of an issue lies below so many layers of required understandings that proponents can pull a fast one on the general public with misleading rhetoric which obscures their will-o-the-wisp hidden agendas.

This strategy has been exhibited with Jonathan Gruber’s slight of hand with Obamacare (see: Washington Post Article), the convoluted misreporting of the University of Virginia gang-rape allegations (see: Daily Caller Story ), Elizabeth Warren’s attack on Congress's continuing resolution to finance our government. She says that it is helping Wall Street banks (see: Powerline Blog) and so many other current dust-ups that set my head to spinning.

What to do? How does one uncover the actual truths in these contretemps? I have fallen back on a strategy to catch the snipe in many of these seemingly hopeless media mazes. And that is to discount anything said or written by someone who appears to be creating complexity for the sake of complexity. Once an issue requires me to get a graduate degree in a discipline in order to understand it, I discount these arguments and assume that I am being hoodwinked. (I also use this strategy with most arm-waving television ads these days … for example … "call 1-800-BAD-DRUG"). This device is not of my invention … William of Occam was one of the first to propose it … see: Science Explanation of Occam's Razor. 

It seems to work in most instances.

Firing Squad

I have previously written about the threat to the American fraternity system based upon the gang rape accusation at a University of Virginia fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi, as published in Rolling Stone magazine. This resulted in the president of this university closing down all fraternities there until next Spring ... see: The Alpha of the Omega. Now we learn that this magazine's article, which never had checked with the fraternity in question, is beginning to unravel as many of its revelations are unable to be verified ... see: Enews Article.

This non-scandal is quite reminiscent of the Duke University lacrosse team scandal of a few years back which blew up in the faces of many of the professors and administration at this other "prestigious" southern university when lie after lie was exposed. We "broad-minded" liberal-educated erudites too often critique the Ferguson riots or the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations as resulting from a mob mentality ... but somehow ignore this same mindless behavior in ourselves or in those in whom we have vested authority. Sometimes we form the firing squad well before even the trial is held.

It does seem that liberal pedagogues have a penchant to follow that age-old adage, "fire, ready, aim."

Afterward: See also John Hinderaker's article in The Powerline Blog.