Franken-Lies-And-the-Lying-Liars-Who-Tell

Okay, reader. Let's take a moment to test your political IQ. Who became president in
1993 when gun violence comprised 12 percent of violent crime? Was it George W Bush? Or
was it Bill Clinton? If you said Bill Clinton, give yourself a point.
Now, the "most recent justice statistics" mentioned in the editorial came from the year
2001. Who ended his presidency in 2001? George W Bush? Or Bill Clinton? Again, a point
for Clinton.
This next question is a two-pointer, because it involves a logical induction. Here it is.
If Clinton was president during the time when gun violence rates dropped, is that a vindication
for George W Bush's attorney general? Or is it a vindication for Clinton and his advocacy
of gun control? The correct answer is at the bottom of the page, written upside down so
that you can't cheat.
Add up your score. If you got four points, your political IQ is somewhere between 40
and 200. If you, like the editorial writers for the Wall Street Journal, got between zero and
three points, your political IQ is between 0 and 39.
Dolphins are about a 36. But they're cute. And friendly, too.
I think Paul Gigot, who has edited the WSJ's editorial page since 2001, is kind of cute. Or, as
he prefers, "handsome." But, as I learned when I called to ask about this editorial, he is not
friendly. I left a message, and, to his credit, Paul called me back. To his discredit, he refused
to discuss the editorial. Even worse, he got angry and attacked me personally, impugning my
motives.
"You just want to be able to say that you called Paul Gigot and that he couldn't defend
his editorial, so you can put it in your book to sell more copies," he said.
Frankly, I was hurt. Nobody had ever spoken to me that way before. My actual intention
was totally innocent. My purpose in calling Gigot was to discuss the editorial and, in a
civil manner, find out why he chose to publish something so mind-blowingly asinine. I would
have thought that he would have loved an opportunity to defend his work product against a
mere comedian with only a passing knowledge of current events. Oh well.
One unfortunate result of Gigot's intransigence was that he did not have the opportunity
to address some other questions I had. Since the statistics cited in the editorial seemed to
vindicate Clinton's gun control policy, I had taken the liberty of having TearnFranken check