Tag Archives: Mark Steyn

OMG. What if?

Posted on 5/14/2013 by Scott Aikin

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 , , | Leave a comment

False dilemma, inclusive disjunction

Posted on 3/31/2013 by Scott Aikin

Mark Steyn’s lead post at NRO today was an argumentative (and organizational) trainwreck.  Here’s just one of the fallacious lovelies.  Steyn observes that lefties have in the past been against marriage, as a kind of anti-bourgeois bit of posing.  And … Continue reading →

Posted in False Dichotomy | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Ad rockstarium

Posted on 6/10/2012 by Scott Aikin

I think it's worthwhile to keep track of the ways the sides in a debate try to paint the character of the other.  Sometimes, it is simple observations about what kind of person would hold such and such a view, … Continue reading →

Posted in Ad Hominem, Ad Hominem Abusive, Appeal to the People, Barack Obama | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Ei quoque

Posted on 12/24/2011 by John Casey

One of the lamest journalistic tropes is the ei quoque (Scott's idea): well, they do it too!  It's not the tu quoque, because that means "you do it too!."  This captures the gist of Politifact's defense of its sorry fact-checking: At a Republican … Continue reading →

Posted in General discussion, is quoque | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment