Tag Archives: Paul Ryan

Flopper

Posted on 1/25/2013 by John Casey

I thought this segment of the Daily Show underscored just what distinguishes it from much of the rest of Cable TV media.  Despite being a comedy show, they somehow managed, by the art of just stopping and thinking for a … Continue reading →

Posted in General discussion | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The confidence man

Posted on 11/9/2012 by John Casey

Nate Silver, nerdy statistician at 538.com, correctly predicated the outcome of the recent election (with the exception, by the way, of one Senate race in North Dakota).  Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, "numbers" guys by their own descriptions, did not.  An … Continue reading →

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Precise, clear, passionate, and false.

Posted on 8/30/2012 by John Casey

A commenter (John Small Berries) asked if we were going to comment on the Republican National Convention.  The answer is no.  So here's a comment on the RNC.  Ripped from the headlines this morning (via Eschaton via TPM), here is the following exchange between … Continue reading →

Posted in General discussion | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Makers and takers

Posted on 8/12/2012 by Scott Aikin

Paul Ryan is Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential choice.  As a consequence, there's been a good bit of attention paid to Ryan's much-touted appreciation of Ayn Rand.  One edge is to criticize Randian economic policy.  Another edge is to ask whether … Continue reading →

Posted in Ad hominem tu quoque, Argument Analysis, Argument from Double Standards, Argument from Inconsistency | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Iron manning, again

Posted on 4/9/2012 by John Casey

The iron man works like the straw man.  You take an argument (or an arguer), distort his argument, pick an urepresentative feature of his argument, or you invent an argument the person does not make all in order to make the argument the person makes … Continue reading →

Posted in Iron man | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Paul Krugman on Iron Manning

Posted on 4/8/2012 by John Casey

If only he know the word for this behavior, his post would be snappier.  But here is Paul Krugman talking about the phenomenon of Iron Manning.  The case at hand is the iron manning of Paul Ryan's budget plan.  You … Continue reading →

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My views are underappreciated by those who disagree with my views

Posted on 11/16/2011 by John Casey

There is a natural tendency to iron man one's own arguments; that's why self-assessment is not an accurate measure of a position's cogency. It also often turns out that such self-ironmanning comes along with underestimating the strength of positions opposed … Continue reading →

Posted in Iron man, Red Herring, Straw Man | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s not hypocrisy if you don’t like it

Posted on 1/26/2011 by John Casey

Word has it that Paul Ryan, the respondent to the SOTU address, is a major fan of hack philosopher and confuser of undergraduates Ayn Rand such that he distributes copies of her works to staffers and credits her work with his desire … Continue reading →

Posted in Ad hominem tu quoque, ignorance of basic matters of logic, inconsistency | Tagged , , , , , , | 16 Comments