An interesting example of ad baculum (appeal to force) reasoning came up last night. A candidate for Congress in Montana body-slammed a reporter for asking a question about the CBO score of the AHCA. Â This got me thinking about the ad baculum. The textbook ad baculum argument is something of a puzzle. Here’s what we … Continue reading Body slam!
George Will defends the crazy: After six years in the state Legislature, she ran for Congress and now, in her second term, has become such a burr under Democrats' saddles that recently the New York Times profiled her beneath a Page One headline: "GOP Has a Lightning Rod, and Her Name Is Not Palin." She … Continue reading It’s good to be a gangster
Pundits rarely criticize each other by name. So when they do, it's fun to point it out. Here's Michael Kinsley on right wing sophistry punditry re Sarah Palin, John McCain's pick for Vice President: But that's so five minutes ago, before Sarah Palin. Already, conservative pundits have come up with creative explanations for McCain's choice … Continue reading This American life
Multiculturalism seems to be the topic of the week. In USNews Michael Barone writes a column called “Cultures aren’t equal” and in The New York Times David Brooks writes a piece called “All Cultures are not Equal.” As the titles suggest, the point of these pieces is to argue that multiculturalism is bad. For Barone, … Continue reading Cultural equality