Politics

The famed British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli is reputed to have said "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." His wry comment (later quoted by Mark Twain) was intended to call attention to how easily we can be misled by spurious precision.  Perhaps this is what inspired Darrell Huff’s classic small book, How to Lie with Statistics.

It is not just that the size of the government has been reduced intentionally. It is not just that many cabinet level appointees are unqualified for public service. It is not only that our government policies have been revised or in some cases re-interpreted or eliminated. Similarities to conditions in Germany that led to the rise of Hitler are hard to miss – the nationalistic, boastful tone; the harsh and unrelenting attacks on a free press as “fake news;” the key roles that members of the military play in the current administration; the endless insults and sparring with other countries; the deaf ear turned to hate speech; and the pitiful, narcissistic, and whiny tweets from the nation’s highest elected official.