{"id":4365,"date":"2013-08-18T22:47:19","date_gmt":"2013-08-19T03:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/?p=4365"},"modified":"2013-08-18T22:47:19","modified_gmt":"2013-08-19T03:47:19","slug":"ad-stalinem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/?p=4365","title":{"rendered":"Ad Stalinem"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"obamarodeoclown\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We’ve had discussions of the Ad Hitlerem<\/em><\/a> and Godwin’s Law<\/a> here at the NS a few times.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a close cousin to it, which is the Ad Stalinem<\/em>.\u00c2\u00a0 The argument runs in the form:<\/p>\n

You did X<\/p>\n

Stalin did X (or something like it)<\/p>\n

Therefore, your doing X is wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 And you’re like Stalin.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Arguments by analogy have trouble with relevance, and this one has plenty. In recent news<\/a>, a rodeo clown took over the mic at a state fair in Missouri and put on an Obama mask.\u00c2\u00a0 The announcer asked if they wanted to see Obama run down by a bull.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s pretty crazy.\u00c2\u00a0 The rodeo clown in the mask has been banned for life from participating in rodeos in Missouri, and all the other cowboys have been required to attend sensitivity training seminars.<\/p>\n

The RIGHT, instead of feeling a little silly for catering to people who think that having bulls trample a president in effigy is good political commentary, they rush to these guys defense.\u00c2\u00a0 This is where the Ad Salinem<\/em> comes in.\u00c2\u00a0 So here’s a taste of it over at the American Spectator<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m surprised, in the efforts to lynch the Obama Clown and brainwash other cowboys with sensitivity training, that the Obama regime and cronies have failed to recount one of my favorite Stalin stories from long ago.<\/p>\n

After a hard day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work, Uncle Joe blessed a Moscow circus with his presence. The clowns performed a bit that contained (what Stalin perceived as) political commentary obliquely critical of him. Yet the audience roared with delight at the funny clowns!<\/p>\n

True to form, Stalin had his armed guards line up the clowns in center ring and execute them, on the spot.<\/p>\n

Then, as a clever follow-up on Stalin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part, he had the guards turn their guns on the audience and slaughter dozens. Call it a curtain call: it was curtains for all.<\/p>\n

Oh, the dangers of mocking Great Leaders.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For arguments by analogy to work, there must be some important factors in common between the cases.\u00c2\u00a0 Here are a few.\u00c2\u00a0 1. The objection to the clown’s portrayal of Obama wasn’t about criticizing his policies, but about the racist overtones of the portrayal. 2. None of the consequences visited on him are from the Obama administration, but from the Missouri State Fair officials.\u00c2\u00a0 3. Nobody in the audience had anything bad happen to them.\u00c2\u00a0 4. If you look at the picture closely, you’ll see that it looks like the guy’s got a broom halfway up his butt.\u00c2\u00a0 He should be fired for that, solely.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s not funny. It’s weird. Even for a rodeo clown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’ve had discussions of the Ad Hitlerem and Godwin’s Law here at the NS a few times.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a close cousin to it, which is the Ad Stalinem.\u00c2\u00a0 The argument runs in the form: You did X Stalin did X (or something like it) Therefore, your doing X is wrong.\u00c2\u00a0 And you’re like Stalin. Arguments … Continue reading Ad Stalinem<\/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":[141,54,23],"tags":[740,1718,1719],"class_list":["post-4365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-specious-comparisons","category-things-that-are-false","category-weak-analogy","tag-ad-hitlerium","tag-ad-stalinem","tag-rodeo-clowns-making-important-political-statements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4365","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=4365"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4367,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4365\/revisions\/4367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenonsequitur.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}