One of my favorite semi-fictional exchanges of all time, found in Judge Kozinski’s dissent in U.S. v. Ramirez Lopez, 315 F.3d 1143 (2003):
Ramirez-Lopez: Isn’t the jury supposed to have all the facts?
Lawyer: Not all the facts. Some facts are cumulative, others are hearsay. Some facts are both cumulative and hearsay.
Ramirez-Lopez: Can you say that in plain English?
Lawyer: No.
<rant>Let me get this straight.
USDA official Shirley Sherrod basically says, “Because this farmer was white, I didn’t do all I could to help him. But then I realized that was racist, and that all racism is bad, so I helped him save his farm.”
White farmer says, “Yup, she saved our farm. She rocks.”
Andrew Breitbart edits that down to just this: “Because this farmer was white, I didn’t do all I could to help him.” He calls her a racist. White House (or Tom Vilsack) fires her.
WTF?!?!