"Creating Facts"

John Luik, at Tech Central Station has an interesting piece on the rampant practice of "creating facts" to back the cause du jour. Here's how it works:

In Washington the search for truth is a creative process. First, you create a premise. Next you create a statistic to back it up. Then you create an audience by repeating it over and over again, until the media pick it up. That's when you know that you've done it.

Done what?"

Created a fact!

This piece is about the recent revision of the obesity problem in the country. The CDC revised its figures about deaths caused by obesity, but it's not just the CDC who uses this effective tactic. Check out Luik's piece and ask yourself what other interest groups use the same method of operation.