Congress, Baseball, and Fake Statistics
9th August 2018
Since I developed the vice of reading the New York Times, I have seen many a daft story, for which the recent controversy about Sarah Jeong can be adduced as Exhibit A. This morning, however, I read the most delightfully bizarre headline I think I have ever encountered: “Sharice Davids Could Become First Lesbian Native American Congresswoman.” She would also thereby be the first lesbian congresswoman from Kansas.
What is at issue here is not homosexuality or racial politics, which I can address elsewhere. My quarrel is with made-up stats.
In the age of the Participation Trophy, this is a not unexpected development.