John Lott Lies Again

[wyethwire]

Not that this is really news anymore.

But John Lott has invented a bogus statistic about the murder rate in Baghdad to justify his claim an armed Iraq is a safe Iraq:

"Yet, despite Iraqis owning machine guns and the country still not under control, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pointed out that Baghdad is experiencing fewer murders than Washington, D.C., where handguns are banned."

But you can't find a statistic for the murder rate in Baghdad. It doesn't exist.

[Hanuman]

1. Yes I have heard this idea tossed around a lot lately-

But I have no idea whether it is actually true.

It very well could be, I don't know.

What is the murder rate in DC anyway?

[wyethwire]

3. DC's murder rate

262 murders in 2002. Out of a population of 600,000.

But the Baghdad crime statistics don't exist. They were burned in a fire during the invasion.

And the dog ate his homework.

[Bandit]

10. At , at least one soldier a day, even the US casualty rate is higher

They are so full of bullshit it's starting to look like a solid pile of crap every time they show themselves. There are no figures on the Iraqi population so on the surface their claim is a lie. I suspect they were only referring to American lives lost and they are even wrong about that. They don't consider Iraqis worth counting or even mentioning.

[MrBenchley]

2. What a scumbag

And believe it or not, there are posters down on J/PS who will try to defend this lying right wing loony.

[greyl]

4. He twisted the rummy's quote

which was lousy to begin with.

rummy was comparing the number of monthly murders in DC to the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq.

Of course it doesn't make sense because it's not like 1 cop or soldier a day is killed in DC, and it's not like we know how many civilian murders takes place in Iraq.

[wyethwire]

5. Rummy was spit-balling

And John Lott treats it like holy writ

[acerbic]

6. SILENCE, YOU INFIDELS!

Mary Rosh says that it's all true. :-)

[wyethwire]

7. A puzzle

If the NRA claims that an armed citizenry is the best defense against tryanny, how come Iraq - where everybody has a gun - was ruled by a brutal dictator all these years?

[CO Liberal]

8. John Lott - The Kenny-Boy Lay of Statistics

When will his 15 minutes be up?

[AngryWhiteDemocrat]

9. He's practicing Rove-speak

Basically, they claim the soldiers are deaths during a war....not murders.

So technically, his statement is true.

Still bullshit, but that's what he's trying to do.