Free Republic

As a professional rhetorician and teacher of rhetoric—the art of persuasion—for over 35 years, I have seen a lot of bad arguments. And not all of them have come from my college students. Not by a long shot. But in all that time, the worst argument I have ever heard, by far, is this one: “If it only saves one life….” It’s a line big-government types love to trot out whenever they want good-hearted, well-meaning people to accept some sketchy, illogical, oppressive measure because, you know, it just might save one person’s life. An example is socialized medicine, which would...

Between your favorite television shows, prepare to see a lot of American flags for the next two weeks - and probably the next eight months. On Wednesday, Maine became one of 17 battleground states to hear the first shots, so to speak, in the fight for the White House, as the Media Fund, a Democratic leaning nonprofit group, offered its response to a series of ads released last week by President Bush's re-election campaign.The Media Fund's $5.1 million ad buy, running only in targeted states, is harshly critical of Bush's handling of the economy, consistently listed as among voters' top...