Posted by Eugene Volokh: Errors We Make in Our Ignorance: Max Boot's column about Iwo Jima made me think of the Marine Corps, and reminded me of an incident a few years ago. I was having dinner with a think-tanker in D.C., and I noticed a pin he was wearing. He noticed me noticing, and asked me if I knew what it was.
The pin, which was small and had no legible writing, most obviously contained a two-dimensionable representation of the globe, with an eagle above it. But then I noticed that behind the globe was an anchor. "Is it related to the Navy?," I asked, entirely innocently. (Like many in my circle, I've had very little exposure to the military.) Being an honest fellow, he had to admit that it was, in a sense -- but the way he bristled made it clear that he thought the relationship was something that was very minor, and that obscured much more than it revealed. Then I realized my error. _______________________________________________ Volokh mailing list [email protected] http://highsorcery.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/volokh
