Quote Originally Posted by John T. Fishel View Post
... the simpler of any two equally explanatory hypotheses is considered valid
It's quite a leap of faith for me to take a politician at his or her word, so that's why I don't view both as "equally explanatory."

Quote Originally Posted by John T. Fishel View Post
Still, my experience has been that people -even politicians - usually mean what they say.
In attempting to illustrate my point earlier, I was actually going to cite a few examples from politicians, but I didn't want to risk sending the thread onto a political tangent, since most of examples would be fairly recent.

I agree that people usually mean what they say. I would go even further and say that people often unintentionally reveal more about what they believe than they intend. But I disagree when you add to that assertion "even politicians." Politicians speak from teleprompters and prepared statements and see public appearances as an opportunity to parrot talking points. If they mean what they say, it is coincidence. Politicians have to be intelligent to get elected and intelligent people don't generally speak in the dumbed-down phrases that we see them blabbing on TV. They stay on message. That message is drafted for a purpose, just like a PSYOP handbill, with a particular target audience in mind.