Co-Moron of the Day: Whoever Writes Headlines for the Washington Post
The Washington Post carries the same Ass. Press article as everyone else about the Ohio recount, in which the Democrat, Green and Libertarian Parties wasted taxpayer dollars to conduct a pointless recount that narrowed President Bush’s re-election margin from 118,775 all the way down to 118,457, a netting John L. Kerry a whoppping gain of 318 votes statewide, 285 of which can be attributed to the recount itself. Based on that precipitious drop, which accounted for almost 0.24% of the 2% margin by which Bush carried the state, the Post came up with this brilliant headline:
Recount in Ohio Narrows Bush’s Victory Margin
Um, yeah, I suppose. By the same logic, here are a few headlines they may want to consider in the future:
Recount in Ohio Confirms Kerry Beat Nader, Baradnik
Study Confirms Congo and Cuba Closer to Each Other Than Either is to Jupiter
Experts Agree: Virginia Closer to North Pole Than North, South Carolina Are
Study: Pole Vaulting Brings You Closer to the Sun
December 29th, 2004 at 5:56 am
Who’s Baradnik? :grin:
December 29th, 2004 at 7:49 am
Study: Pole Vaulting Brings You Closer to the Sun
Not if you do it at night. [Eesh! How didactic!]
December 29th, 2004 at 8:10 am
Rip & Read Blog Podcast for December 29, 2004
Here’s what I ripped and read today:
The blog Damnum Absque Injuria blogger XLRQ has the following post about headline writers for the AP dispatch on the recount in Ohio:
Co-Moron of the Day: Whoever Writes Headlines for the Washington Post…
December 30th, 2004 at 9:01 am
New Historical Study Shows Holocaust Numbers Inflated
(AP) After decades of painstaking research, a panel of French historians announced that only 5,997,456 Jews died in the Nazi Holocaust. Preliminary figures had been six million…..
December 30th, 2004 at 9:38 am
I’m surprised that so many people objected to the recount. What, precisely, is wrong with a group of people who thought a vote was mishandled footing the bill for a recount? Would you rather that the election forever have a question mark over it? Would you rather that sloppy election counting can never be contested? If I was this sloppy with something important at work, I’d get fired. You guys want a free pass.
December 30th, 2004 at 10:09 am
First, Ohio didn’t mishandle its ballots, and it’s highly unlikely that Nader, Badnarik and/or Kerry believed in good faith that they did. Second, there was no serious “question mark” hanging over the Ohio election, except among a few conspiracy nuts who were desperate to find one wherever they could. Kerry himself opposed the recount initially, and even when he joined it made clear he did not expect it to change the result, which is the only legitimate reason to hold a recount, ever. Third, and most importantly, contrary to your comment these yahoos did not foot the bill for their pointless ego trip of a recount. All they paid was the minimum amount they were required to raise by law, which is a fraction of the total cost. The rest was borne by Ohio taxpayers.
What do you mean, ” this sloppy?” According to the Ohio Secretary of State, 2,858,727 Ohio residents voted for Bush, and 2,739,952 others for Kerry, totaling 5,598,679 between them. Of those 5,598,679, the first count is now known to have been off by a whopping 318, only 285 of which had anything to do with the recount. Even so, in just about any industry except NASA, an error rate of 318 out of 5,598,679 (or 1 in 17,606) is not sloppy at all; it’s incredibly accurate. If you can claim a 99.994% accuracy rate on your job, then I wouldn’t worry too much about being fired if I were you. In fact, I’d probably be hitting up my boss for a raise.
December 30th, 2004 at 12:30 pm
Experts Agree: Virginia Closer to North Pole Than North, South Carolina Are
Yes, but here’s the stumper: Is North Carolina or South Carolina closer to the North Pole?
I think we need a few more experts on this project. Maybe they can answer the question within a 99.994% margin of error.
December 30th, 2004 at 12:31 pm
And don’t get me started on that whole South Pole thing!