The use of statistics in the effort to sway
opinion. Commonly used by
politicians and economists with an agenda, seeking to use
numbers, etc. in the attempt to put their own spin on a situation.
The other day, Senator Richardson was on the
news trying to defend his position on relaxing tobacco
taxes. Despite the growing number of deaths each year due to
smoking, he cited numerous spintistics to suggest it is not as bad as what has been reported.