absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence
Comments Off Some, today, point to the recent article on factcheck.org, entitled, “Bush A Military Deserter? Calm Down, Michael”. The relevant quote:
The fact is Bush was honorably discharged without ever being officially accused of desertion or being away without official leave.
So now we’re falling down a rabbit hole of sophistry and semantics. This is what you might call a non-denial denial. I can make them too:
The fact is, Capone died at home in Florida without ever being convicted of murder, bootlegging, extortion or racketeering.
What’s the story on this factcheck.org site? Looks above-board, but CRAZY nit-picky to me. For instance, here’s how they “debunk” a claim by Gephardt, “George Bush has lost more jobs than any president since Herbert Hoover.”
They say:
It now seems likely that Bush will end his term with the economy employing fewer payroll workers than when he took office, according to most projections by private economists. If that happens, Bush’s critics will be able to say correctly that he’s the first since Hoover to have ended an entire term with a net job loss. But it’s premature to say that now. Even Reagans bigger job loss was erased less than two years after growth resumed. And several private economists are projecting job gains in the next 12 months that would leave Bush with a net gain in jobs.
This from a website that’s supposed to be clearing things up for us. Thanks, FactCheck!
