What we have here is a failure to communicate

From the blog Comments from Left Field we have the following headline:

John McCain: Domestic Violence is Hi-fncking-larious

Uh, what?

The story behind the headline concerns questions as to why McCain did not choose Arizona governor Jim Gibbons to chair his campaign in that state.

Why was McCain snubbing Gibbons? McCain replied with a chuckle that he had just stopped beating his wife a couple of weeks ago.

It turns out that the entry at CFLF links to one by Jake Tapper at ABC News:

To be clear, McCain was alluding to the fictitious leading question "When did you stop beating your wife, senator?" It's a bit of distasteful DC yuckery so commonly quoted it's hackneyed.

But considering the subject McCain was discussing at the time, to allude to that joke was, well, .....awkward!

"DC yuckery"? Let's grant right away that McCain's reply might be considered awkward to a slight degree. "DC yuckery"?? Where has Tapper been? The "Have you stopped beating your wife?" question is the classic example of the complex question. That is, the technique of asking a question containing a questionable premise. If the one questioned offers an answer then it will appear that he accepts the premise.

The definition of "DC yuckery" should be closer to DC reporters offering yucky analysis like Tapper's.

Perhaps Tapper should explain why pretty much every online explanation of logical fallacies seems to be up on its "DC yuckery."

Or, as BIll45 stated in the commentary section below Tapper's entry:

The question "when did you stop beating your wife?" is not, as Tapper claims, "a bit of distasteful DC yuckery so commonly quoted it's hackneyed." Rather, the question is used in every first year law school evidence class as the classic example of the unfair misdirecting question that leaves the respondent with no choice but to assume the truthfulness of the underlying yet unproven proposition -- that the respondent is presently or has in the past beaten his wife.

McCain was quite right to raise it in this context as an example of media unfairness.

"DC yuckery." Unbelievable. Does Tapper work with an editor?