Stupid Debating Tricks -- 9 Of My Least Favorite Debate Tactics

Right Wing News ^ | 9.29.03 | John Hawkins

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[As i mentioned, the B/C & JD! lists are going to float into and out of whack over the forseeable future, while I try to cobble a rig back together for myself. My apologies for any incovenience or misunderstandings in this time frame. New signups/removals may be flaky in this time-frame as well; please bear with me, and keep in mind you may have to FReepmail me more than once for me to get it done. Thanks again!]

[Springman]

Bump for later.

[r9etb]

LOL! Good post.

The one he missed is the time-tested "Emotional Appeal" tactic. (OTOH, maybe this fits under the "mean, mean, mean" heading....)

I've seen this one a lot in debates over same-sex blessings in the Episcopal Church. The pro-sodomites simply cannot win on logic, and certainly not on Scripture.

So they appeal to pity (ours) and rage (theirs). For example, "the church is telling us we cannot have sex -- just you try going without sex." This seems like an effective argument untul you recognize it as simply an appeal to pity. There are lots of things the church says "don't do."

[Tamzee]

This was excellent.... and fun!

I debate a Greenie all the time who posts to my community association board. It's a constant barrage of "Bush made 9/11 happen on purpose" and that type of garbage. He uses every tactic listed here... and then some ;-)

Thank you!

[Political Junkie Too]

Don't forget the most-often used tactic:

Don't stop talking. When the host turns to the right-wing guest, the left-wing guest will keep talking, or interrupt the right-wing speaker with sentence fragments like "But... but..." or "not true... not true...". It is meant to distract the speaker or drown out the point that the speaker is trying to make. Usually the conservative is respectful of the liberal's time on the air, but the liberal is almost always rude when the conservative is speaking.

-PJ

[Alia]

That listing (and example) is very apt. The only thing not included are the infamous "stat" wars: "Her" vs. "His" type stat wars. "I have here a study done by (insert dubious or even prestigiousname-of-institute) purporting that global warming reduces testicle size"...

[theDentist]

Definitely missed out on emotional appeal, which I think would include "for the children" and to "protect mother earth".

Evil Republicans are polluting Mother Earth, despoiling the lands, evaporating the ozone layer, pouring nuclear waste on arctic lands and luring dolphins into Tuna nets without caring about "at-risk" eco-systems. We've got to stop them for the children.

[sticker]

It doesn't matter if it is a left-winger or a yellowdog RAT, they all mean the same thing: Don't try and confuse me with facts.

[ellery]

Great find. I add:
-the "you against the world" approach, where the leftist claims that "the American people" want us to move on, or "the world community" hates the US. This is rarely backed up with objective fact, and yet is rarely challenged.

bttt

[PRND21]

Bump

[Junior]

Any of these sound familiar?

[OXENinFLA]

This is fitting, I got this in another board today after listing the countries and how they have helped out durring "Iraqi Freedom"

http://www.vcorps.army.mil/www/cjtf7/forces.htm

---

"""So we had 33 out of 192 countries, paid off the good majority of the 33, and you are proud? This is freaking just plain sad.

I wonder if Dubya wakes up every morning 'knowing' his sorry butt is going back to that pitiful hole for a state he spawned from?

Look out black, poor people and queers, Dubya comming home...

The price of freedom is that people like you can't be hung in town square anymore for being an idiot and threatening the gene pool. I bet you have some really---really stupid kids don't you?"""

---

Nice guy, Huh?

[evets]

#10 Distract your opponent with your breasts

[VadeRetro]

Did A List of My Own Once. It adds what you might call "refusal to infer" (abuse of "Just because ... doesn't mean ..."), begging the question, appeal to authority, and everyone's favorite: ad hominem.

[PatrickHenry]

Any of these sound familiar?

All of those tactics, and maybe 50 more, are in regular use in the evolution vs creationism threads.

[r9etb]

Well, I think Mary would be a bit more appealing if her belly didn't stick out further than her breasts....

[chimera]

Sounds like a typical tolerant, sensitive, caring, compassionate liberal (he wants you dead because you disagree with him on a political issue).

[Gabz]

Sure desribes a lot of folks we seem to tangle with on a regular basis, doesn't it!!!

[Nea Wood]

...the liberal is almost always rude when the conservative is speaking.

Ain't it the truth! Sometimes I'll have Fox News on while cleaning the house or something and I'm not really looking at the TV. I've gotten to where I can tell who's a conservative and who's a liberal just by the way they talk. If someone is constantly interrupting and talking over their opponent, you can bet they're a liberal.