Lose the ‘R’ Or Take the ‘L’? - Kevin D. Williamson - The Dispatch 5%

By Kevin D. Williamson0%

7/10/2026, 6:45:00 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 15 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Halo Effect, and Attempt to Sell a Product or Service, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 28.3% saturation with 125 hits. Analysis detected 572 faulty-reasoning hits from 442 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 20.2% and a BS Rank of 5% (20,845 of 21,887 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 95.20% of the article peer group.

Lose the ‘R’ Or Take the ‘L’? 
Sen. 
Susan Collins is a genuine moderate in a party of genuine maniacs. 
Sen. 
Susan Collins speaks to media on May 5, 2026, in Bridgton, Maine. 
(Photo by Graeme Sloan/Getty Images) 
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Sen. 
Susan Collins of Maine has a reputation for bipartisanship that may actually understate the case: As the Lugar Center runs the numbers , she is the single most bipartisan member of the Senate, meaning the one most likely to cosponsor legislation with members of the opposing party. 
Bipartisan in this sense is not necessarily a synonym for moderate or centrist—note that Sen. 
John Cornyn of Texas ranks high on the bipartisanship index, too—but Sen. 
Collins is hardly a right-wing ideologue or a conservative hardliner: She is typically ranked as the most moderate Republican in the Senate and the most ideologically centrist senator overall . 
Kevin D. 
Williamson is national correspondent at The Dispatch and is based in Virginia. 
Prior to joining the company in 2022, he spent 15 years as a writer and editor at National Review, worked as the theater critic at the New Criterion, and had a long career in local newspapers. 
He is also a writer in residence at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. 
When Kevin is not reporting on the world outside Washington for his Wanderland newsletter, you can find him at the rifle range or reading a book about literally almost anything other than politics. 
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Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 6.8%Kevin D. Williamson: 2.8%The Dispatch: 4.0%Confirmation Bias6.8%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 2.1%The Dispatch: 0.4%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.1%The Dispatch: 1.9%Availability Heuristic0.0%This article: 2.7%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.7%The Dispatch: 1.0%Representativeness Heuristic2.7%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.5%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.9%The Dispatch: 1.8%Overconfidence Bias0.0%This article: 3.8%Kevin D. Williamson: 5.1%The Dispatch: 4.8%Framing Effect3.8%This article: 1.6%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.4%The Dispatch: 0.7%Loss Aversion1.6%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.7%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.0%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 1.3%The Dispatch: 1.6%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.4%The Dispatch: 2.7%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 2.7%Kevin D. Williamson: 2.3%The Dispatch: 5.3%Negativity Bias2.7%This article: 7.5%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.3%Self-Serving Bias7.5%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 1.5%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.0%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 2.7%Kevin D. Williamson: 1.3%The Dispatch: 0.8%In-Group Bias2.7%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.5%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 20.1%Kevin D. Williamson: 5.0%The Dispatch: 1.8%Halo Effect20.1%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.2%The Dispatch: 0.2%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 1.0%The Dispatch: 1.2%Recency Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.3%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.2%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 2.7%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.3%The Dispatch: 1.8%Ad Hominem2.7%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.9%Straw Man0.0%This article: 28.3%Kevin D. Williamson: 5.5%The Dispatch: 3.5%Appeal to Authority28.3%This article: 3.8%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.1%The Dispatch: 2.4%False Dilemma3.8%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 1.0%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.2%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 6.8%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.6%The Dispatch: 6.1%Hasty Generalization6.8%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.1%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.1%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 2.1%The Dispatch: 2.7%Appeal to Emotion0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.7%The Dispatch: 0.8%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 3.2%The Dispatch: 1.6%Post Hoc (False Cause)0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.2%The Dispatch: 0.5%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.3%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.1%The Dispatch: 1.1%Anecdotal0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.2%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 3.4%Kevin D. Williamson: 1.3%The Dispatch: 1.7%Ambiguity (Equivocation)3.4%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.2%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.3%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.1%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 0.3%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 1.3%The Dispatch: 1.3%Unattributed Quote0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.3%The Dispatch: 0.8%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 27.6%Kevin D. Williamson: 2.6%The Dispatch: 7.1%Biased Writer Voice27.6%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 1.2%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.2%The Dispatch: 1.5%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%The Dispatch: 1.1%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 8.8%Kevin D. Williamson: 4.9%The Dispatch: 5.8%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…8.8%

442 words analyzed.

Speakers

3speakers17%attributed speech366writer words
Voice mapSelect a segment to jump to its words
Writer's voice • 10 words • 0.0% coverageThe Dispatch • 4 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageSusan Collins • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 1 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 47 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 15 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 30 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 2 words • 0.0% coverageKevin D. Williamson • 12 words • 0.0% coverageKevin D. Williamson • 36 words • 0.0% coverageKevin D. Williamson • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 33 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 9 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 8 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 100.0% coverageWriter's voice • 12 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 7 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 6 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 5 words • 0.0% coverageWriter's voice • 3 words • 0.0% coverage
Selected voice

Kevin D. Williamson

80%flagged-word coverage
60 attributed words79% of attributed speech56% writer coverage
0%17.5%35.0%Biased Writer Voice-33.3 ptsWriter: 33.3%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%0.0%Attempt to Sell a Product -10.7 ptsWriter: 10.7%Kevin D. Williamson: 0.0%0.0%

Attribution is sentence-level. Pattern percentages are calculated only from words assigned to that voice.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.