Mark Steyn's Compliment Defense

Re: Competitive Enterprise Institute and National Review vs. Michael E. Mann DC court case.

When Mark Steyn made his comment about Michael Mann at the National Review,

Michael Mann was the man behind the fraudulent climate-change "hockey-stick" graph

It was clear he was making a compliment of how skilled Mann is at making Hockey Sticks.

fraudulent - "using or inclined to use trickery" (Wordsmith)

trickery - "an act or instance of using a trick or tricks." (Wordsmith)

trick - "a particular craft or skill in doing something." (Wordsmith)

As the group that Michael Mann is a part of at RealClimate once said,

Scientists often use the term "trick" to refer to "a good way to deal with a problem"