Man bites dog

The Republican Study Committee makes a false charge against Nancy Pelosi: dog-bites-man.
National Journal’s blog relays the false charge as fact: dog-bites-man.
Glenn Reynolds calls “foul” on his own side: man-bites-dog. That’s news, and cause for celebration.

Glenn Reynolds defends Nancy Pelosi against a false charge of copyright violation by the Republican Study Committee, dutifully transcribed by National Journal’s blog. The charge does, in fact, turn out to be entirely bogus &#8212 just like the charge about demanding luxury air travel &#8212 and the RSC takes it back, though without any apology to the Speaker.

Kudos to Glenn for calling a foul on his own side. Here’s hoping that he’ll take another look at the air-travel pseudo-scandal and note how fraudulent that one was, too.

Making false integrity charges against public officials isn’t just an injury to them. It also helps cover up the real wrongdoing in Washington, of which there’s plenty.

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