The Bush-voters-have-lower-IQs hoax appears to have run its course. The editor at
American Assembler who posted the table that got the whole firestorm going has posted an
abject apology. Meanwhile I've still been trying to contact Robert Calvert, the guy who
originally posted the IQ/election data two years ago on rec.org.mensa, to see if he would admit that he made it up. But no luck.
He doesn't reply to email. So the possibility hangs out there that he got the info from some obscure source that no one else has been able to find. But this possibility seems vanishingly small to me, especially when you consider the character of Calvert's other Usenet postings, many of which relate to the topic of IQ (it seems to be a pet subject of his). For instance,
in this post he muses on the possibility that blondes really do have lower IQs than brunettes.
At the end of this post he makes some offhand remarks suggesting that blacks "are substantially less intelligent than average." And
in this post he expresses his belief that multiculturalism is all a Jewish plot to lower the average IQ of Americans. So he seems like a really charming and credible guy (not!... I get a creepy feeling just reading through his rantings). But if you think about it, it's amazing how this (presumably fake) election/IQ data, originating from a wildly eccentric source, managed to lie dormant for a year and a half and then sweep suddenly through the blogosphere.
Comments
you know oyu have too much spare time when......
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The writer in question on American Dissembler has finally been cornered into printing a retraction and an "apology," but STILL claims it was a joke, even though it was first posted as a viable news story.
If he had been writing for "the onion," he may have had an out, but the American Assembler is not a satirical publication (at least, not consciously).
The funniest thing, is though the writer has been forced to retract his lies, the EDITOR of the publication STILL claims that, even though their "source" cited by the writer appears to be a crackpot this crackpot's contention MIGHT still be TRUE, and are still waiting for certifiable evidence that it isn't!
As the editor of the American Assembler states, "The empirical fact is: we don't know because Robert Calvert (their author's "source") has apparently disappeared... Judging by his other postings, he appears to be obsessed with IQ related issues so it's not impossible he has some other source. It's doubtful, but not impossible. So affirmatively claiming it's a hoax without empirical data to back that up is just as misleading as claiming it was from 'The Wealth of Nations' which it apparently is not. People would be wise to remember that, just because something is not found on the internet doesn't mean it does not exist."
I will be avoiding the American Assembler from now on, as my small, independent study concludes that they are nothing more than cowardly crackpots, most likely funded by some substrata of stooges for the Kerry campaign.
However, anybody I know who is on the fence regarding their political party choice, I will most certainly point to the American Assembler, which, while not necessarily convicing them to be a republican, will surely and unintentionally assist in their avoiding the mudpits of the democrats.
This "web magazine" has shown itself to pocess little in the way of integrity, or responsible journalism.
Bill Well is really a piece of work, though to be fair, his "editors" certainly set the climate for their "writers" to act the fool.
Sadly, it's this kind of behavior that will most likely ensure that we get Bush for another four years.
Thanks a lot, Bill.