Bogusivity

America Strikes Back continues. Last night Stephen talked about the Vice President nominee, Paul Ryan. Especially about his speech. It was an important speech, a huge moment. You could tell that Stephen was just as proud as anyone because he complimented Paul Ryan for finally earning his Public Speaking Merit Badge and becoming an Eagle Scout. Only one, well maybe a few, well maybe more than a dozen, little teeny, itsy bitsy problems. Ryan said things that weren't exactly factual. Lots of news organizations called him out on that. (Here, here, here, here, and here.) By looking over the video tape of Paul Ryan's speech, Stephen was able to isolate when they said he was lying. It was when he started moving his lips.

Here's what one person, Sally Kohn of Fox News, said: "Ryan's speech was an apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech."

So? said the Romney campaign's Neil Newhouse on August 28, 2012. "We're not going to let our campaign be dictated by fact-checkers." Others pointed out that this was a speech of big ideas, huge ideas. "Such as: lying is handy," noted Stephen. "Ryan stretching the truth is just another form of doping in that if you believe him, you're a dope.

A big treat for Stephen's fans was presidential candidate and Mormon Jon Huntsman as the guest. Luckily for us he did not answer all of Stephen's questions in Mandarin Chinese, even though he speaks it fluently. Perhaps some of the interview might have gone better if he had spoken Mandarin Chinese. Because. He said this. "I hate Super PACs." and then, even worse, he admitted that he knew that would be a hurtful statement because he said next, "I knew you were going to take offense at that, Stephen."

Stephen knew exactly what to do. He promoted his own Super PAC and told Jon Huntsman that, "We are building a better tomorrow," (pauses, looks at his audience, and they all chime in together) "TOMORROW."

One of the hard hitting questions that Stephen asked of Jon Huntsman was this, "How important do YOU think the facts are to a political campaign?

Awkward pause. Audience laughs.

To close out the interview, Stephen asked Jon Huntsman to say what his honest opinion of Mitt Romney is, but to say it in Mandarin Chinese.

Jon Huntsman said it, what he really thinks of Mitt Romney. But, since it was in Mandarin Chinese, I didn't quite catch it, so we will just have to assume that we know what was said about Mitt Romney.

It Is Enough That It Be "Truthy"

I read a really excellent column by Leonard Pitts Jr. Of The Miami Herald recently. It is about Steven Miles and Arthur Caplan offering $11,000 to charity if someone can prove a link between vaccinations for human papillomavirus and intellectual disability.

This comes after Michele Bachmann said in interviews "She said her daughter was given that vaccine. She said her daughter suffered mental retardation as a result of that vaccine."

Go read the column by Pitts now. I'll wait while you do.

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Okay, did you read it? Pitts makes some very good points. And did you notice that he also mentions Stephen Colbert? That definitely caught my attention. He also wrote about Jon Kyl. You may remember I wrote about Jon Kyl here and here when Kyl's office excused his bogusivity comments because what he (Kyl) said "was not intended to be a factual statement."

So, $11,000 is up for grabs (for a charity), so do your research and claim that money. Wait a minute, wait just a minute! A link between vaccinations for human papillomavirus and intellectual disability..............

Can anyone tell me if Michele Bachmann had the HPV vaccination?

Bogusivity

So, I have found a few other websites with the word "bogusivity" on it. But I don't care. I'm going to claim the word as mine. Stephen, don't you dare steal the word from me. The only other reference I found on Google to bogusivity was about juggling and it was a very, very long time ago.

Bogusivity is basically the opposite of truthiness. But it is not just the opposite of truthiness, it is worse than the opposite of truthiness. You see, truthiness has a sort of ambiguity about it whereas bogusivity is absolute, sort of like negative 273.15 degrees Celsius.

Truthiness is a goal, something you want to always try to achieve, like Stephen does. Bogusivity is to be avoided at all times and in all circumstances.