Grammar-tee Fair

“[T]hey presently saw a town before them, and the name of that town is Vanity; and at the town there is a fair kept, called Vanity Fair…Now, Christian and Faithful, as I said, must needs go through this fair. Well, so they did…One trader mockingly said unto them, ‘What will you buy?’ But they, looking gravely upon him, said, ‘We buy the truth.’ At that the pilgrims were taunted and mocked and some even threatened to strike them.” - John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, Chapter 6

The aptly named Vanity Fair magazine set its editors loose on Sarah Palin’s resignation speech and published the results (http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/07/palin-speech-edit-200907?currentPage=1). This “Web Exclusive” consisted of a transcript of the oration, marked up in red (and green and blue) pencil like a middle school essay graded by an overcaffeinated student teacher. The exercise got some attention in the blogosphere, where the former Vice Presidential Candidate was taunted and mocked and some even threatened to strike her.

The trouble was, very few of the “corrections” actually improved the speech. Some examples:

Palin’s original text: “People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing is more important to me that our beloved Alaska.”

Vanity Fair’s revised text: “People who know me know that except for God and family, nothing is more important to me than our beloved Alaska.”

Palin’s original text: “We took government out of the dairy business.”

Vanity Fair’s revised text: “We took the dairy business away from the government.”

Palin’s original text: “our law department”

Vanity Fair’s revised text: “our Department of Law”.

A friend of mine, observing the frivolousness of these edits, asked me “is there a name for this fallacy? False claim of authority?”

There is a fallacy called the Improper Appeal to Authority. This fallacy consists of relying upon the expertise of someone who does not necessarily have special knowledge of the subject. For example, “My barber recommends I buy stock in Microsoft”. However, Improper Appeal to Authority does not apply here – the editors of “Vanity Fair”, in theory at least, have knowledge of how to construct an English sentence.

I would go with a different fallacy: Distinction without a Difference.