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Fact or fiction? A collection from Outlook’s popular Five Myths series.
"[New Apple CEO Tim] Cook hasn’t stood still," writes Darrell Etherington in "Five Myths about Apple ." "Apple’s iPad mini, for instance, is risky because it may have lower-than-average gross margins, and it could end up stealing sales from the highly popular iPad, but it certainly shows a determination not to remain rooted in what has worked before."
KIMIHIRO HOSHINO
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AFP/GETTY IMAGES
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MYTH: Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. "Benjamin Franklin’s proverbial praise of early risers made sense in the second half of the 18th century, when his peers were exposed to much more daylight and to very dark nights," writes Till Roenneberg in "Five myths about sleep .” "Their body clocks were tightly synchronized to this day-night cycle. This changed as work gradually moved indoors, performed under the far weaker intensity of artificial light during the day and, if desired, all night long. Here, members of Occupy Wall Street sleep on a sidewalk in the New York financial district on September 13, 2012.
Spencer Platt
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GETTY IMAGES
MYTH: Going over the fiscal cliff wouldn’t immediately damage the economy. "Some experts have argued that going over the cliff wouldn’t cause much immediate economic harm and that any damage could quickly be reversed by retroactively waiving the tax increases and spending cuts," writes Maya MacGuineas in "Five myths about the fiscal cliff ." "That’s like saying: 'Don’t worry about being run over — the car will be off you shortly.' In most cases, the damage is already done." Here, President Obama with House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) at a White House meeting of the bipartisan, bicameral leadership of Congress to discuss the deficit and economy in November.
Carolyn Kaster
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AP
MYTH: A president has more freedom in a second term. "It is a common assumption that a second-term president, liberated from worries about reelection, can pursue bold objectives that would have been unachievable during a first term," writes Harvard law professor Kenneth Mack in "Five myths about two-term presidents ." "But history shows that presidents can lose steam if they aren’t careful." Here, Obama, accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, arrive at the election night party on Nov. 7 in Chicago.
Carolyn Kaster
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
MYTH: Runners should “carbo-load” by eating pasta the night before the race. "As much as runners enjoy any opportunity to binge on food guilt-free, the best way to 'carbo-load' is to eat just 100 extra grams of carbohydrates, the equivalent of three bagels, spaced out throughout the day before the race," write Ryan Hall and Sarah Hall in "Five myths about mararthons ." Here, runners pass the Lincoln Memorial at about the 10-mile mark during the 36th Marine Corps Marathon on October, 30 2011, in Arlington, Va.
Jonathan Newton
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THE WASHINGTON POST
MYTH: The decision to launch the raid was a close call. "By the time of their final meeting three days before the raid, nearly all the principals favored sending in the SEALs, according to interviews I’ve conducted," Mark Bowden writes in "Five myths about the bin Laden raid .” "The biggest exception was Biden, who wanted more time to make certain bin Laden was present." Here, President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team receive an update on the mission in the Situation Room of the White House on May 1, 2011.
The White House
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GETTY IMAGES
MYTH: Polls prove that the first presidential debate upended the polls. “There is little evidence that the debate itself decisively moved the needle in key swing states,” writes Jon Cohen in “Five myths about the polls .” In six state surveys released Thursday by two well-regarded polling partnerships — NBC-Wall Street Journal-Marist and CBS-New York Times-Quinnipiac — there were virtually no shifts for either candidate compared with pre-debate polls.Here, Wisconsiin residents watch the vice-presidential debate on Oct. 11.
Mark Kauzlarich
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AP
MYTH: "Latinos favor increased government services and therefore are reliable Democratic voters." According to political science professor Valerie Martinez-Ebers, "the percentage of Latinos voting for Democratic presidential candidates has ranged from a high of 85 percent in 1960, when they are credited with providing the slim margin of victory for John F. Kennedy in Texas and other key states, to a low of 56 percent in 1980 for incumbent Jimmy Carter when he lost to Ronald Reagan." Here, President Obama takes part in a town hall hosted by Univision at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., on September 20. Read more from "Five myths about Latino voters ."
KEVIN LAMARQUE
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REUTERS
MYTH: "Voters use debates to decide." "For many voters, televised presidential debates serve to focus the mind," former debate moderator Gwen Ifill writes. "Seeing the men who would be president — yes, always men, so far — face off empowers viewers to finally choose a side." Here, Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush and Al Gore square off in their third and final debate at Washington University in St. Louis in October 2000. Read more from "Five myths about presidential debates ."
Ed Reinke
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AP
MYTH: Forty-seven percent of Americans don’t pay taxes. "That oft-heard claim ignores all the other taxes Americans encounter in their daily lives," write William G. Gale and Donald B. Marron in "Five myths about the 47 percent ." "Almost two-thirds of the 47 percent work, for example, and their payroll taxes help finance Social Security and Medicare. Accounting for this, the share of households paying no net federal taxes falls to 28 percent." Here, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who dismissed people who don’t pay income taxes as unlikely to vote for him, campaigns at the Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Fla., on Sept. 20.
Charles Dharapak
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AP
MYTH: Teachers unions are to blame for low test scores and high dropout rates. "While teachers unions share some culpability for our education problems," writes Andrew Rotherham and Jane Hannaway, "so do school administrators, school boards, elected officials, communities and parents. Besides, those teacher contracts and state laws people complain about were agreed to by someone in addition to the unions — namely administrators and politicians. There is plenty of blame to go around." Here, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis is embraced by a teacher during a rally outside the Chicago Board of Education district headquarters during a weeklong strike. Read more from "Five myths about teachers unions ."
Sitthixay Ditthavong
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AP
MYTH: The Europeans will never get their act together. “The euro zone’s strong members, Germany in particular, cannot say they will provide unlimited bailouts; that would take the pressure off the debtors,” writes C. Fred Bergsten. “Driven by the markets, however, the zone seems on track to complete the economic and monetary union that was promised two decades ago and whose absence brought on the current difficulties. Read more from "Five myths about the euro crisis ."
Michael Probst
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AP
MYTH: New Orleans's levees failed because Katrina was just too big. This was how the Army Corps of Engineers tried to spin it in the aftermath of the storm. But key levees, including the 17th Street and London Avenue canals in the heart of the city, failed with water well below levels they were designed to withstand. Here, floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina fill the streets near downtown New Orleans, in this Aug. 30, 2005. Read more from "Five myths about Hurricane Katrina ."
DAVID J. PHILLIP
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
MYTH: Paul Ryan's budget would reduce the deficit. "The Ryan budget rests on three pillars that rely on capping and punting — limiting spending to a certain level but providing no specifics on how to achieve that number," writes Peter Orszag. "If you take out everything Ryan is assuming and look at his concrete proposals, his budget is not fiscally conservative. Without the magical reductions in Medicaid, other spending and tax breaks, his plan would expand the deficit in 2040, not reduce it." Read more from "Five myths about Paul Ryan's budget ."
J. Scott Applewhite
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AP
MYTH: The nominee's speech is the most important part of the convention. Actually, "other speeches can have a lasting effect on the rest of the campaign," writes Martin Cohen. For example, "[Pat] Buchanan's 'culture war' speech dragged down the Bush-Quayle ticket in 1992, turning off moderate voters with moralistic rhetoric." Read more from "Five myths about political conventions ."
RON EDMONDS
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
MYTH: The stimulus was full of waste, pork and fraud. "Yes, there was Solyndra," Michael Grunwald writes, "but its $535 million default represented only about 1 percent of the Recovery Act’s clean-energy loan portfolio, and independent reviewers have found that the overall portfolio is in fine shape. And Republican investigators have found no evidence that cronyism drove the Solyndra loan." Read more from "Five myths about the stimulus ."
Bill O'Leary
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WASHINGTON POST
MYTH: In the long run, the decline of middle-class living standards is inevitable. "Technological advances and globalization will continue to bring us new goods and services and lower prices, and they’ll create some jobs even as they destroy others," writes Lane Kenworthy. "And stagnating wages and job growth are not foreordained. Our best bet for increasing employment over the long run is more and better education." Read more from "Five myths about the middle class ."
Damian Dovarganes
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AP
MYTH: Communities come together after mass shootings. "There is a sense of unity after mass shootings. But the threads begin to quickly unravel," writes Jeff Kass. "Lawsuits, which usually follow mass shootings, also foster acrimony within the community." Greg Zanis, left, prays with Aurora, Colo., mayor Steve Hogan at a makeshift memorial to the victims of the July 20 mass shooting at a Batman movie premiere. A carpenter by trade, Zanis made the twelve white crosses that were placed near Columbine High School after a mass shooting there in 1999. Read more from "Five myths about mass shootings ."
Chip Somodevilla
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GETTY IMAGES
MYTH: Negative ads are more effective than positive ones. "Labeling ads as simply 'positive' or 'negative' obscures considerable diversity within each category," Ted Brader writes. "However, specific types of negative and positive advertising do have distinct consequences. Spots that stir up positive emotions such as hope, pride and enthusiasm stimulate voters' interest and participation in an election." At left, a frame grab from a recent Romney campaign ad. Read more from "Five myths about campaign ads ."
AP
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AP
MYTH: Free enterprise hurts the poor. According to Arthur Brooks, every American earning more than $34,000 a year is in the world’s top 1 percent. Americans make up less than 5 percent of the planet’s population, but we’re about half the members of the world’s 1 percent. And we’ve accomplished that through our commitment to free enterprise. Here, a board at the New York Stock Exchange shows the closing number for the Dow Jones industrial average Friday, June 1, 2012. Read more from "Five myths about free enterprise ."
Richard Drew
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AP
MYTH: The problem is too many trees. Although Pepco executives have publicly stated in the past that most outages were “tree-related,” company records show that in 2009, equipment failures — not trees — were an even bigger source of blackouts, accounting for 44 percent. Here, homemade signs that criticize Pepco hang on a light pole on 10401 Tenbrook Dr, in Silver Spring, MD. Read more "Five myths about PepCo ."
Genevieve Bowles
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For The Washington Post
MYTH: A bold running mate can energize an otherwise moribund campaign. "Presidential candidates do not want to be upstaged by their running mates," writes Scott Farris. "Polls show that the 2012 race should be close, but Romney is running far behind among Hispanic voters, the nation's fastest-growing demographic. He could turn to Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida or Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval to try to change that, but obvious pandering is poor politics — and inexperience on the national stage could cause problems." Read more from "Five myths about the veepstakes ."
Jessica Kourkounis
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GETTY IMAGES
MYTH: If we make it tough for these students and their families, they will self-deport. “Self-deportation is unrealistic,” researcher Roberto G. Gonzales writes. “Young immigrants’ lives are rooted in the United States. They speak English. They go to American schools. Alongside American-born peers, they watch Barney, read ‘Twilight’ and ‘The Hunger Games,’ and love Lady Gaga. While they may have had little choice in their parents’ decision to migrate, they are here to stay.” Here, undocumented UCLA students attend a graduation ceremony for Dreamers at a church in Los Angeles on June 15. Read more from "Five myths about the Dream generation ."
JONATHAN ALCORN
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REUTERS
MYTH: Marco Rubio is a creation of the tea party movement. "Rubio has been hailed as the tea party's crown prince and, along with Rand Paul, one of its first senators," Manuel Roig-Franzia writes. "Lost in all the tea party hoopla is Rubio's long history as a rank-and-file Republican." Here, he stands with his mother, Oria Rubio, at a celebration after his 2010 election to the U.S. Senate. Read more: "Five myths about Marco Rubio ."
Lynne Sladky
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AP
MYTH: Swing-state polls are key to predicting the winner. In fact, the opposite is true, especially this far from November. If the Republican candidate does a little better overall, then he’s going to do a little better in close states such as Ohio and Nevada, too. So even though the candidates will spend most of their time and money in the states they expect to matter most, it won’t make much difference. Here, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney talks to supporters during a campaign rally in St. Petersburg, Fla., in May. Read more "Five myths about swing states ."
STEVE NESIUS
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REUTERS
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Section:/opinions
!['[New Apple CEO Tim] Cook hasn’t stood still,' writes Darrell Etherington in '<a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-apple/2012/11/30/758e83e4-3822-11e2-8a97-363b0f9a0ab3_story.html'>Five Myths about Apple</a>.' 'Apple’s iPad mini, for instance, is risky because it may have lower-than-average gross margins, and it could end up stealing sales from the highly popular iPad, but it certainly shows a determination not to remain rooted in what has worked before.'](/rf/image_606w/WashingtonPost/Content/Blogs/innovations/Images/513961824-168.jpg)
![MYTH: The nominee's speech is the most important part of the convention. Actually, 'other speeches can have a lasting effect on the rest of the campaign,' writes Martin Cohen. For example, '[Pat] Buchanan's 'culture war' speech dragged down the Bush-Quayle ticket in 1992, turning off moderate voters with moralistic rhetoric.' Read more from '<a data-xslt='_http' href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-political-conventions/2012/08/16/33627746-e561-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html'>Five myths about political conventions</a>.'](/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2012/08/17/Outlook/Advance/Images/AP920817048.jpg)
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