Tire Gauge Science

Tire Gauge Science

by Michael Coughlin

Propaganda in America has become an insipid and banal tilting at windmills.   Often transparent and childish, these ubiquitous assaults on a thinking-person’s intelligence flood the media.  ., Political ads (thank God the election is finished) are prime examples of this sound-bite trash.  Half-truths and innuendo are made to sound official, and yet there is little substance or truth to the messages. A prime example appeared awhile back in the Wall Street Journal.  There, in a small Exxon Mobil ad, complete with cute chemistry symbols, lay another piece of propaganda pawned off as “science.”  A question posed by the ad asked: “Can properly inflated tires really make a difference?”  Sure enough, Exxon reported, America could save 700 million gallons of gas every year if people would properly inflate their vehicle’s tires.  Just how they made their gas-saving calculations remained undisclosed.  So I asked a few simple questions and every time I did, I was reinforced knowing that Exxon’s ad had nothing to so with “science” and everything to do with feel-good political correctness.  

I am so tired of politicians, industry and special interest groups playing to America’s stupidity.  

Oh, by the way, I sent the pamphlet to Exxon’s boss and, not surprisingly, never received a reply.