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I thought this segment<\/a> of the Daily Show underscored just what distinguishes it from much of the rest of Cable TV media.\u00c2\u00a0 Despite being a comedy show, they somehow managed, by the art of just stopping and thinking for a second, to show just how awful an arguer Paul Ryan is.\u00c2\u00a0 For Ryan, the former Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, accused Obama of straw manning him in his inaugural address.\u00c2\u00a0 From the Washington Post<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think when the president does kind of a switcheroo like that, what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to say is that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re maligning these programs that people have earned throughout their working lives,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ryan said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153So, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of a convenient twist of terms to try and shadowbox a straw man in order to win an argument by default, is essentially what that rhetorical device is that he uses, over and over and over<\/strong>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yes, I found that incoherent as well.\u00c2\u00a0 In any case, the Daily Show pointed out in exquisite detail just how accurate Obama had been in referring to\u00c2\u00a0(without naming) Ryan.\u00c2\u00a0 Here’s Jonathan Chait doing the same thing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Obviously Obama hasn’t done anything wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 So Ryan’s accusation of fallacy is specious.\u00c2\u00a0 Worse, it’s a akin to flopping: calling foul when there isn’t one is itself a kind of fallacious move, an attempt to sidetrack the conversation.\u00c2\u00a0 It deserves its own name.\u00c2\u00a0 Anyone?<\/p>\n Flopping is annoying in sports and it’s annoying in argument.\u00c2\u00a0 There should be some kind of penalty<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I thought this segment of the Daily Show underscored just what distinguishes it from much of the rest of Cable TV media.\u00c2\u00a0 Despite being a comedy show, they somehow managed, by the art of just stopping and thinking for a second, to show just how awful an arguer Paul Ryan is.\u00c2\u00a0 For Ryan, the former … Continue reading Flopper<\/span>