The United States in particular knows this very well and knows that many elements of the organization are active through this method in all countries, including the United States.

BBC: Iraqi rebuttal: Terror links

In order to conduct the sort of statistical analysis Silver faults Noonan's column for lacking, you'd need a representative database of persons who are politically active and a method of coding their political activity by ideology and intensity.

WSJ: Best of the Web Today: The Dog Whistler

This method outperforms active fund selection by over one percent per year, and a disciplined rebalancing strategy generates returns that have outperformed the markets nominally and on a risk adjusted basis.

FORBES: Passive Investing Beats the Markets

The buffering method you choose will make a big difference: Active lying is more damaging than avoidance, research indicates.

WSJ: Lying to a Spouse: Relationship Advice on How It Can Be Healthy

The standard measure for such things is the Scoville Heat Unit, or SHU, named after Wilbur Lincoln Scoville, a chemist who in 1912 developed a method of assessing the heat given off by capsaicin, the active ingredient in chili peppers.

WSJ: The World's Hottest Chili

In America, as the patent on a drug's active ingredient expires, its manufacturer will typically file (allegedly) frivolous patent applications based on its delivery method or capsule.

ECONOMIST: Drug pricing