Posted by
Ikester on Friday, September 14, 2007 11:40:37 PM
We have been exposed to Ad Hominem fallacy and we, for the most part, have been ignorant of it and felt only the frustration of the dodge game.
"Ad Hominem is a general category of fallacies in which a claim or argument is rejected on the basis of some irrelevant fact about the author of or the person presenting the claim or argument. Typically, this fallacy involves two steps. First, an attack against the character of person making the claim, her circumstances, or her actions is made (or the character, circumstances, or actions of the person reporting the claim). Second, this attack is taken to be evidence against the claim or argument the person in question is making (or presenting."
Sound familiar? Almost every time a liberal is asked a question they immediately shift to this game playing. This is exactly what happened when General Paeraeus was questioned in Congress. There is absolutely no way to defeat his report so the attack dogs are turned loose, including MoveOn.com. It is amazing that their 'b tray us' ad was arranged the day before the General gave his report.
With this information at our disposal, we can now feel a decrease in frustration. Now all we need is interviewers who will not allow them to get away with this fallacy and make them answer the question. I somehow doubt that this will happen either because of intimidation by those over them or not enough willingness to get at the truth. We can only hope for more lovers of truth.
Bottom line, when a person has no argument, or something to hide, then attacking your opponent is the only option they have and the use it skillfully.
Ikester