# In the history of the SDMB has anyone ever been wrong about more things than adaher? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 31, 2013, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639 "2013-08-31T04:55:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/261 "2013-09-07T13:14:08Z")
Says a poster who has been wrong right in this very thread. I didn’t point it out because it wasn’t really necessary for my rebuttal, but you just said it without confirmation because you believed it to be true. That doesn’t make you stupid, and I still take you seriously even though you were wrong because you’ve contributed valuable arguments in other threads. BTW, what you were wrong about was Democrats being willing to raise taxes to pay for their programs. That USED to be true, pre-Obama. Now it’s only somewhat true. They did raise taxes to pay for the health care bill, but all the other spending increases they’ve done have not been paid for. But since there was a facet of your argument that was true(Democrats are more mature about it than Republicans), I felt it contributed to the discussion even though it would have only gotten a “Half True” rating if it was on Politifact. If I truly was as partisan as some here have contended, I would have seized on the little inaccuracy to try to discredit your entire argument. but believe it or not, I actually do enjoy the discussions. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/262 "2013-09-07T13:18:43Z")
Look, folks, we’ve gone on awhile now, but I have an important point to make here. This thread was started to Pit me, and I’ve responded by having discussions on a variety of topics. Now maybe most of you think I’m entirely full of shit on everything we’ve discussed, but can you honestly say that my arguments have no value? Are they really so way off and completely wrong that I deserve the abuse I’m getting? And is discretiding me, adaher, really a necessary component of rebutting my arguments? ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/263 "2013-09-07T13:25:50Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > There is zero **correlation** between poverty rates and crime. > [@adaher](#): > > Poor people are more likely to be criminals, but if poverty was the **CAUSE** of crime, then you’d get more crime as you got more poverty, and less crime as you got less poverty. imho, right or wrong, causation is not the same as correlation. And, ( again imho ), you seem to be trying to use the two as synonyms. Obviously, ymmv. ---
**Author:** ![sylmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@sylmar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sylmar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/264 "2013-09-07T13:26:52Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > It’s like \*\*curlcoat \*\*and \*\*Clothahump \*\*had a love child who eats lead paint. Ohh sweet jesus, laughing out loud on that one, thanks Fear. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/265 "2013-09-07T13:28:00Z")
No I’m not. I simply argued that if there’s no correlation, it’s impossible to prove causation, so since there is no correlation between poverty rates and crime rates, there is no evidence that poverty causes crime. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/266 "2013-09-07T13:58:07Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > They did raise taxes to pay for the health care bill, but all the other spending increases they’ve done have not been paid for. Specifically, what spending increases have not been paid for? Outside of the ACA, has Congress passed any Obama or Democrat spending programs? And if they did, did they pass any Obama or Democrat tax increases? You can’t tar Democrats for Republican obstructionism. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/267 "2013-09-07T14:27:56Z")
The food stamp eligibility expansion. I realize it was a stimulus measure but they don’t want to fill it back so it needs to be paid for if its going robe permanent. I’d also cite the first omnibus bill Obama signed in April 2009 that increased spending levels in a lot of programs but there has been much dispute about what actually happened there and since budget numbers are hard to interpret sometimes… But that was another argument where I was pronounced wrong even though I had cites supporting my case as much as those who disagreed did ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/268 "2013-09-07T14:36:34Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > No I’m not. I simply argued that if there’s no correlation, it’s impossible to prove causation, so since there is no correlation between poverty rates and crime rates, there is no evidence that poverty causes crime. No, what you said is that it is ["demonstrably and provably wrong"](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=16632289&postcount=108)that poverty causes crime. That’s an absolute statement with no hedging. But you haven’t proven that. Even if we accept your claim that there is no evidence, decades of sociology research to the contrary, you haven’t proven the opposite. In fact, all we have to do is find one instance of some poor person admitting that they committed a crime because they needed the money to disprove your initial hypothesis. [But, I admit, that would be hard to do.](http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/teen-accused-of-starting-wildfires-says-he-needed-firefighting-work/article_ed69af1d-26a7-5f5a-ad3a-2fb5f083cd1d.html)[Or, actually, super easy.](http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/brothers-get-lengthy-prison-terms-for-armed-bank-robbery-and-assault-of-federal-officer.html/) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/269 "2013-09-07T14:40:54Z")
Except that if there is no correlation, how do you get causation? Seems that without correlation you can’t even get that far. It would be like claiming that cigarettes cause Alzheimer’s even though there is no increased incidence of Alzheimer’s in smokers. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/270 "2013-09-07T14:51:23Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > BTW, what’s the standard here? Am I as much of an idiot as Barack Obama? > > [PolitiFact | Barack Obama](http://www.politifact.com/personalities/barack-obama/) > > Barack Obama is wrong more than half the time he opens his mouth, and he has people to help him. If we’re really generous and count half-true statements as close enough, he’s wrong more than a quarter of the time. [Mitt Romney](http://www.politifact.com/personalities/mitt-romney/) [John McCain](http://www.politifact.com/personalities/john-mccain/) Both are significantly worse. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/271 "2013-09-07T15:08:50Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I have an important point to make here. We’ll be the judges of that, thank you. > [@](#): > > can you honestly say that my arguments have no value? Are they really so way off and completely wrong that I deserve the abuse I’m getting? Yes and yes. > [@](#): > > And is discretiding me, adaher, really a necessary component of rebutting my arguments? You discredit _yourself_. The rest is just laughter. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/272 "2013-09-07T15:45:42Z")
He’s the conservative gadfly who mocks the pretensions and foibles of fuzzy-thinking lefties and liberals! Me? Tequila and bongwater, why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![sylmar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b782af/32.png) [@sylmar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sylmar)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/273 "2013-09-07T17:28:50Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Me? Tequila and bongwater, why do you ask? Because I need to know what to call it when I go to order it at a bar. Hemp-arita? Fuzzy Banger? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/274 "2013-09-07T17:42:02Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > [Mitt Romney](http://www.politifact.com/personalities/mitt-romney/) > [John McCain](http://www.politifact.com/personalities/john-mccain/) > Both are significantly worse. Lovely, once again even a “standard” that \*\*adaher \*\*tries to apply shows that indeed the ones that did disparage McCain and Mitt were more accurate and had more reasons for it. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/275 "2013-09-07T17:55:11Z")
> [@sylmar](#): > > Because I need to know what to call it when I go to order it at a bar. Hemp-arita? Fuzzy Banger? Don’t. Trust me. Don’t. ---
**Author:** ![3trew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/13edae/32.png) [@3trew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3trew)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/276 "2013-09-07T18:26:30Z")
You can get a similar effect more safely by combining homemade red wine and hash. Looking back, maybe don’t try that one either. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/277 "2013-09-07T18:49:16Z")
Late to the party, but honestly **FXMastermind** has adaher beat in the always wrong game. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/278 "2013-09-07T19:38:48Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > He is not a poster in this message boards you Numbnuts. How do you know that? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/279 "2013-09-08T01:58:31Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > **Barack Obama is wrong more than half the time he opens his mouth** , and he has people to help him. If we’re really generous and count half-true statements as close enough, he’s wrong more than a quarter of the time. Cite for the bolded part? Not the same pathetic Politifact link you already gave; I want one that backs up your assertions that more than half of all his statements he ever makes are wrong. Do you even see what you did there??? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2013, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639/280 "2013-09-08T02:03:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > BTW, what you were wrong about was Democrats being willing to raise taxes to pay for their programs. That USED to be true, pre-Obama. Now it’s only somewhat true. They did raise taxes to pay for the health care bill, but all the other spending increases they’ve done have not been paid for. Look how you moved the goalposts in that paragraph. First it’s about Democrats being willing to raise taxes to pay for things, then it’s about whether or not taxes actually were raised. What the fuck is wrong with you? Were you kicked in the head by a mule? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-history-of-the-sdmb-has-anyone-ever-been-wrong-about-more-things-than-adaher/667639.md?page=15)