{"id":4356,"date":"2013-08-08T16:56:15","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T21:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/?p=4356"},"modified":"2013-08-08T16:56:15","modified_gmt":"2013-08-08T21:56:15","slug":"downplayer-overload","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/?p=4356","title":{"rendered":"Downplayer overload"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a common strategy when characterizing one’s opposition to use the non-argumentative device commonly called the downplayer.\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>So one may use the opposition’s language, but scarequote its best points or one may go out of\u00c2\u00a0 one’s way to emphasize how little you think of them and their points.\u00c2\u00a0 In so doing, you prime\u00c2\u00a0 your audience to hear anything the other side says as ridiculous.\u00c2\u00a0 The problem with downplayers is that if you do them too much, it’s not entirely clear why you’re bothering to argue with or even correct this person.\u00c2\u00a0 If the quality of the opposition is so bad, then perhaps you’re not trying hard enough to find thoughtful interlocutors.\u00c2\u00a0 Or the thoughtful ones don’t talk to you.<\/p>\n

Now, hear Sean Hannity’s characterization of Ryan Adams, the alt-country star, here<\/a>. You see, Adams posted a tweet directed at Hannity, saying that he was “controlled by fear and by hate,” and that Hannity should “evolve” and “see reality.”\u00c2\u00a0 He also called Hannity “little chicken man.”\u00c2\u00a0 In response, Hannity had decided to respond.\u00c2\u00a0 But instead of defend himself against the charges (such as they are), he goes out of his way to downplay. Some highlights of his response to the tweet:<\/p>\n

Now isn’t that nice.<\/p>\n

You probably don’t know him. He’s not that popular.<\/p>\n

His little agent…<\/p>\n

If we wanted to torture terrorists, we should play his music to them 24-7.<\/p>\n

He’s hiding behind his rockstar makeup like a little gutless coward.<\/p>\n

A lot of people don’t even know who he is… so forget it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And so now once Hannity has successfully downplayed to this point, he’s made himself look pretty silly here — he’s now having to respond to someone who he doesn’t think he should have to respond to.\u00c2\u00a0 As if to say: This person criticized me… but look at how unworthy of my concern this person is.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean… really, just pathetic this person.\u00c2\u00a0 Criticizing me.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I’m not peeved by this or even perturbed… being criticized by such a low, low person.\u00c2\u00a0 I mean… really.\u00c2\u00a0 It doesn’t bother me at all, because this person is such a lowly piece of garbage and he criticizes me…\u00c2\u00a0 It’s not even worth my time to even think about it, that guy, that lowly guy.\u00c2\u00a0 Not even worth my time to even think about it. Because that guy is just so low.\u00c2\u00a0 And to criticize me, such a lowlife.\u00c2\u00a0 Not even worth my time.\u00c2\u00a0<\/em> Sometimes, when you downplay too much, it undoes the force of it.<\/p>\n

(Oh, it may not have been worth Hannity’s time to respond, but it clearly was worth the time of Miss Oklahoma.)<\/p>\n

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It’s a common strategy when characterizing one’s opposition to use the non-argumentative device commonly called the downplayer.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0So one may use the opposition’s language, but scarequote its best points or one may go out of\u00c2\u00a0 one’s way to emphasize how little you think of them and their points.\u00c2\u00a0 In so doing, you prime\u00c2\u00a0 your audience to … Continue reading Downplayer overload<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4356"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4358,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4356\/revisions\/4358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}