Tuesday, December 01, 2009

It's easier to win arguments if you make them up yourself.


Shorter Gerry Nicholls: "If you allow me to invent, out of thin air, a left-wing point of view that is utterly absurd, totally unrealistic, ridiculously improbable and that not a single human being I know would make in a million years, I think I have a point."

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nicholls is another asshole that claims to be politically neutral while sucking up to Connies and bashing Liberals and NDP with inane talking points...

Audrey II said...

The part I like best is that they way he employs his various strawmen is self-refuting. Even if one were to accept his premise that there are significant numbers of people out there making the very bad argument's he's complaining about, that still leaves the rhetoric of Harper's that he's comparing them to as similarly bad.

That's one of the problems with todays conservative army of online-Machiavellis... They've adopted populist relativism so overwhelmingly that they can't make a coherent, logically valid, objective point if their lives depended on it.

Look! Over there! Something that someone else did (or more often than not, did not do) that's bad, which somehow magically makes what I'm defending right! As a result, the real (or imagined) wrongs of yesterday are often becoming the sinking bar that today's right adopts.

liberal supporter said...

Isn't Gerry a journalist in the "real" media? One would think journalistic standards would go with the man, even to his blog.

Yet we see Gerry doing the "If a conservative sees _____, he (does something reasonable).
If a liberal sees ____, he (does something silly and laughable)." routine.

Even though it had already been done at Hunter's six weeks ago. Of course she couldn't be bothered to give attribution either.

liberal supporter said...

You'd think Gerry Plagiar could have come up with an example of a Liberal Prime Minister making comments like Harper's. There are plenty of Liberal PM's to choose from.

UU4077 said...

Conservative: I think we need to cut taxes and make government smaller. And, we'll do that by first appointing the largest federal cabinet ever!


Conservative: We also need to increase funding for our military and help our allies in the war against terror. And, we'll start by cutting the budgets of the reserves.

Renee said...

Ah, the 'straw moron' argument. A favourite of lazy journalists everywhere.

sooey said...

Why is he making the argument at all?

Ti-Guy said...

A more believable version:

Conservative: I think we need to cut taxes and make government smaller.

Liberal: No you don't. You just say you do to get elected. And then when you do, you cut taxes and make government bigger and wreck the country's finances.

Conservative: We also need to increase funding for our military and help our allies in the war against terror.

Liberal: Terrorism cannot be fought using the military.

Conservative: In my view it's time to inject some sort of free market principles into our costly and inefficient health care system.

Liberal: Free market principles? Like those modeled by banks and large insurance companies? How's that working out?

Conservative: I am sceptical about some of the global warming hysteria going on.

Liberal: Who cares what you think? You didn't even pass grade 10 math.

Conservative: The long-gun registry was a bad idea.

Liberal: Thank God my gun is registered because it's the only thing stopping me from shooting you in the face right now.

sooey said...

Hahahahaha!

Ti-Guy said...

I know you're just being sarcastic.

sooey said...

I'd kill to be sarcastic.

Oops. I've said too much.

Nevermind.

Seriously - wanna get married?

Oh wait, I'm already married.

Nevermind, again.