A logical argument, known as a syllogism, looks like this:     PREMISE 1: All dogs have wet noses.     PREMISE 2: Max is a dog.     CONCLUSION: Max has a wet nose. Easy, right? Now, let's see what happens when we remove one of the premises:     PREMISE 1: All…
Here's a recent example of the effective use of sharp-edged rebuttal (see the comments) to puncture bloated and unthinking terror-mongering (see the post). http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-smerconish/play-the-tape_b_19449.html The point of these comments is that two wrongs don't make a right. The post-writer, a good example of tens of millions of like-minded others, is apparently oblivious. …
The Whitehouse yesterday announced the "resignation" of press secretary Scott McClellan and the reassignment of political advisor Karl Rove, and the news today has been obligingly calling it a "shake-up." This writer sees things differently. First, whether or not McClellan left voluntarily (the reports are conflicting), what better way for the Whitehouse to…
Where is the outcry by our congressional representatives? I find their silence chilling and haunting. Silence is not what I'm hearing from real people on the streets. They didn't think Iran posed any imminent danger, not until Bush started provoking Iran with inflammatory rhetoric and talk of preemptive attacks. My question tonight…
Looks like it’s not going to happen with either Rudy Giuliani or John McCain. If you want to elect a moderate republican in 2008, you’ll have to cast your vote for one of the many people that will be running as "democrats."