As with many occupations, many use similar methods though applied to differing venues. For example, teachers of different subjects. Ditto for engineers, psychologists, law enforcers, attorneys, and more. Today, it is the turn for public commentators – all stripes. The gossip columnist needs to be correct only occasionally. In accuracy, most need only to be close - like in horseshoes, but out of slander’s reach. This makes for a lucrative life whose subjects know what fear and gossip can do. Such is the brutal world of public individuals whose lives can be wrecked by a single shot. News pundits , and junior versions, need only be plausible and have a constituency. Each needs only to avoid totally blatant, provable lies, concentrating on rumor and innuendo with a few selected truths mixed in. Freedom of speech grants this right to everyone. You or I cannot take advantage except at home, but many make a living on innuendo, in the press, on TV, in books, in blogs, a
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