Dilbert, and the art of rhetoric.

There's an amusingly-relevant Dilbert cartoon that relates nicely to the quality (or lack thereof) of discourse on this blog lately. In the strip, ubergeek Dilbert is chatting with a colleague who has the annoying personal habit of over-exaggerating what other people say in order to discredit their arguments:

Dilbert: "You know, if we added this feature to the unit, it would increase its marketability."
Colleague: "OH, SO YOU'RE SAYING THAT ABSOLUTELY NO ONE WILL BUY THIS UNIT WITHOUT THAT FEATURE?!?!"
Dilbert: "Um ... you exaggerated what I just said so that it's not at all what I meant."
Colleague: "OH, SO NOW I EXAGGERATE EVERYTHING YOU SAY?!?!"

You know the type, don't you? You've met them before. Sound familiar?

CC: "I really don't have much sympathy anymore for American troops dying in Iraq."
Right-wing wanker: "OH, SO YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY MILITARY VETERANS WHO WERE KILLED IN COMBAT, HUH?!?!"

You get the idea. Now, let's all sit back and watch for the next example, shall we? Shouldn't be long now.