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Category Archives: Fallacies and Other Problems
You would have noticed this hypocrisy… if you weren’t such a hypocrite
Jonah Goldberg at NRO rings up a fantastic subjunctive tu quoque: Yes, it’s extremely unlikely he ordered the IRS to discriminate against tea-party. . . . And his outrage now — however convenient — is appreciated. But when people he … Continue reading
OMG. What if?
Mark Steyn’s recent contribution to NRO’s page is an exercise in (a) guilt by association, by way of (b) rampant speculation. The ultimate payoff is to criticize the food stamp program. Here’s how the line of argument goes: [The House … Continue reading
Posted in False equivalences, specious comparisons
Tagged Boston Marathon bombing, Mark Steyn, Welfare
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Pretty in pink
Check out Charles Krauthammer’s downplaying analogy over at the NRO for Obama’s ‘Red Line’ ultimatum with Syria using chemical weapons and what the Right thinks is dithering (or “fudging and fumbling”) in the face of the worry they’ve used them. … Continue reading
Posted in Charles Krauthammer, Weak Analogy
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Do you want firm, weasely abs?
Weaseling is a form of informational misdirection. You get your audience to agree to a very weak version of a commitment, then proceed as if they’ve agreed to a stronger version. The greatest weasel ever was in Dumb and Dumber … Continue reading
Posted in Fallacies of ambiguity, Suppressed Evidence, Things that are false
Tagged Weasels
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Doctor, but not a real one
A quick lesson on equivocation and how not to charge that it’s occurring. Charles Cooke has a piece over at NRO about how Jill Biden, who has a Ed.D., has been tweeting under the handle ‘DrBiden’. The tweets have been … Continue reading
Just little old me…
Dennis Prager’s post at NRO today is literally a series of conservative talking points on Islam and terrorism. All pretty much familiar fare, from identifying a persecution complex in their opponents (the irony!) to blaming the Left for encouraging them … Continue reading
The Kim Jong-Un of rhetorical analogies
David Brooks, arguing that sequestration has put government spending well below ideal levels for sustainable economic culture: Right now, we are the North Korea of fiscal policy. That’s laying it on pretty thick. Though, given the way Republicans talk about … Continue reading
Do you like your herring red or blue?
Matt Purple’s got a great change of subject for Republicans concerned about election futures (HERE). When there are laments about how shallow the Republican bench for 2016 is beyond Christie and Rubio, he’s got a new topic of conversation: Let’s … Continue reading
