From: Ian Andrew Bell (fork@ianbell.com)
Date: Mon May 14 2001 - 18:54:51 PDT
Brigham Young University Lecture Summary, 5/14/01..
And this week in Debating 213, we'll show you how to attack an argument
without actually contesting anything that the other debater has said.
Step One: Turn everything, no matter how benign, into a personal attack.
This will illicit sympathy from your audience who will respect you for
defending your dignity in the face of such obvious Liberal impudence:
> I'm glad you know me so well, Ian, that you can critique my parenting
> skills from all the way out there in Hollywood.
Bonus step -- if debater lives in Hollywood, the source of all things evil
in our culture, that's just too easy. Make sure that's well documented for
the audience, too. Right-minded folks would never live in such a cesspool!
Step Two: Know your opponent. Check out everything you can. See what you
can dig up. If there's anything you can find that might jeopardize his/her
credibility in minds of right-minded people, by all means drag it out.
> Those are some mighty sophisticated kids you've raised there, Ian. What
> are their ages and how many are there again? At your website it didn't
> mention anything about kids, or even a wife. Just a cat. I'm sure you're
> raising him to be quite sophisticated too.
Now you're ready for Step Three: Repeat! (Right-minded folks sometimes
need to hear things four or five times before they really understand your
message).
> When my license is suspended, do I have to go before the west hollywood
> parenting board to appeal, or are you planning on adopting them as your
> own, oh he who is so wise in the art of parenting?
Excellent. As you see, the proponent above has artfully dodged an otherwise
logical and potentially appealing argument and has successfully turned it
into a slander-fest. Right-minded folks will see the foolish liberal's
character assassinations for what they are -- pure evil.
-Ian.
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