BREAKING NEWS: Chief Justice Roberts will not be retiring

By Michael J.W. Stickings

That's right, contrary to earlier reports, John Roberts will not be stepping down as chief justice.

Alas.

Explanation here. It seems a Georgetown Univ. law professor told his class this morning that Roberts would be resigning. His students, as you might well imagine, spread the news via text, IM, etc., and it went sort of viral.

As it turns out, the "eccentric" professor was just trying to make a point about "the credibility and reliability of informants," as one student explained. Halfway through the class, the profesor "revealed that the Roberts rumor was made up to show how someone you ordinarily think is credible and reliable (ie a law professor) can disseminate inaccurate information."

(Indeed.)

By the time the truth was out, it was too late.

If nothing else, this story shows just how quickly information, correct or not, can spread in an age of almost universal interconnectedness and media accessibility, in an age of social networking and individual empowerment. (All of which is more bad than good, I would say, despite all the problems, which I won't delve into here.)

It's just too bad it was all a joke.