Some historical background might be relevant: Nixon's political opponents, at the time, used the conflict between his Quaker affiliation and his aggressive politics as evidence of dishonesty. Citation courtesy of a recent Boing Boing article:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/the-meanest-u-s-political-campaign-buttons/
In 1968, candidate Richard Nixon promised to bring the troops home from Viet Nam. Two years later, as the war escalated, anti-Nixon forces accused the president of hypocrisy (above, right) in light of his religious background—Quakers are pacifists.
It is, as Eliezer points out, a distracting example, regardless of whether it is an insulting one.
OK, so that would mean that Nixon supporters might find the example distractingly offensive, which might well be a reason not to use it. But Eliezer said Republicans, and the two aren't quite the same.
(After Watergate I think there were rather few Nixon supporters -- meaning, in this context, people who would be offended by the suggestion that there might be anything suspect about Nixon's integrity -- even among Republicans. When did the "Nixon diamond" start being used as an example in AI?)
Today's post, Politics is the Mind-Killer was originally published on 18 February 2007. A summary (taken from the LW wiki):
Discuss the post here (rather than in the comments to the original post).
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