Bizzy Falls for Dealership Conspiracy, Even “gates” it

How do you know someone is reaching to make a political argument? They append “gate” to the end of whatever it is they are trying to gin up. In this case, Tom “BizzyBlog” Blumer (aka Tom “Motherfucker” Blumer), tries to jump on the wingnut bandwagon and pushes “Dealergate”.

You know, Obama is only closing REPUBLICAN car dealerships and sparing the Democrat ones. Conspiracy! Outrage! Gather your tea and meet me at the river!

…lunacy. Nate Silver (someone who actually understands and represents statistics in a manner consistent with the science), clears it up quickly:

A meme that is currently picking up traction in the conservative blogosphere is that the list of dealerships to be shuttered as a result of Chrysler’s bankruptcy contains a disproportionate number donors to Republican candidates. There have been furious efforts to prove this contention by looking up campaign contributor lists at the Huffington Post, Open Secrets, and other places.

There is just one problem with this theory. Nobody has bothered to look up data for the control group: the list of dealerships which aren’t being closed. It turns out that all car dealers are, in fact, overwhelmingly more likely to donate to Republicans than to Democrats — not just those who are having their doors closed.

So a group that is made up of Republicans disproportionately turns out to have a disproportionate number of closings that are “Republican”.

Duh.

There’s some center-right, sensible conservative blogging for you right there!

What have I been thinking having been on blogging hiatus? This shit is way too much fun! Holla!