Logical Fallacies in political discourse and on a2k threads

This thread is meant to engage an ongoing discussion which is mukking up a thread on a specific subject... http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20967&start=510

But there seems no reason why we couldn't use this new thread to not only continue the ongoing discussion, but to bring forward instances from political commentary at large, or editorial columns, as well as instances we see here on a2k.

Let me start with a previous McGentrix request/comment to me...


Fairness, of the sort you request here, isn't really required by any one of us (outside of the moderators), though it is surely laudable. Whether or not I point out an equal number of fallacious arguments in posts of a certain leaning and in posts of a different leaning isn't really necessary. Folks from that second leaning can do so, and they should.

That's not to say I should ignore any instances. And actually I try not to. But it is a simple fact of my own bias and interests that I read certain posts with a heightened alert-system. I also happen to think (and I'll wager I could show this with some objectivity) that in this unique time period in American political discourse, logical fallacies are more commonly used within the conservative community.

Whether I'm correct or not in that belief is something of a separate issue. I bring it up to explain why I am alert where I am, and why I target there.

More importantly, we need to differentiate between a personal attack and an attack on discourse style. Bad discourse style (such as fallacies) inhibit good discussion, and we ought to get rid of such habits because to the degree we don't, our discussions will be that much more valueless.