Believing what you want to believe

When forged documents are accpeted as real ones, heads should roll.

Wouldn’t it be astonishing if a major news organization turned out to have been as foolishly credulous about documents “proving” what some people in it wanted to believe about George W. Bush’s National Guard record as the Bush Aministration was about documents “proving” Iraqi uranium purchases?

In my view, any organization that acts so foolishly needs a complete change of leadership.

Unfortunately, I don’t get to vote for the President of CBS News.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

2 thoughts on “Believing what you want to believe”

  1. Yeah, but he's only the President

    Hmm, yes, it is strange that being snookered by forged documents for a newsmagazine story is worthy of dozens of posts about "Rathergate," but we should support an Administration that was snookered by documents in the context of advocating a war.

  2. Not Quite The Whole Truth

    From Mark Kleinman (via In Search of Utopia): Wouldn't it be astonishing if a major news organization turned out to have been as foolishly credulous about documents "proving" what some people in it wanted to believe about George W. Bush's…

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