Maps

For the U.S. Government, the Powerpoint presentation is a staple. That's apparent enough in this short piece by David Jones, foreign editor of The Washington Times.

"Jihadists", big red lines, icons of bombs, big black arrows, sweeping bright-green lines--as accurate as it all may be, it's an understatement to say a presentation like this is extremely difficult to take seriously.

But I see it in the Bush Administration's chart for planning the Iraq War, most of their strategy switches since, and the signs Congressmen use to present new policy ideas. Perhaps the problem isn't the Powerpoint quality of all of these presentations, but that the politicians themselves think in terms of key-words, bright colors and complex-made-simple charts.