The Butterfield Effect (n.) – when someone . . . makes a statement that is laughably ludicrous on its face, yet it reveals what the speaker truly believes — no matter how dumb.
Origin:
named in honor of ace New York Times crime reporter Fox Butterfield, the intrepid analyst responsible for such brilliantly headlined stories as “More Inmates, Despite Drop In Crime,” and “Number in Prison Grows Despite Crime Reduction,” not to mention the poetic 1997 header, “Crime Keeps on Falling, but Prisons Keep on Filling.”
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1204/graham120204.asp
Butterfield draws conclusions illogically. He doesn’t realize that if you put people likely to commit crimes in jail, there should be a drop in crime. It’s not hard and a journalist should do that thinking.
smkelly8
No Fixed Plans 