Trump's Weapon of Fallacies
It occurs to me that a major problem with Trump is obviously his tactical war on logic.
The fallacy of deference, (whataboutism) along with other fallacies like false equivalence and ad hominum are glaringly obvious. I am not surprised he uses them as a shyster salesman, mob-like character, but that they have so much traction. The reactions are expected to be knee-jerk and put others on the defense.
Now, if logic and accuracy are important factors, (oh, gee, in regards to journalism, maybe?) why does the media continue to go for the Scooby Snacks(tm) that Trump regularly tosses out? The allegations he makes to defer dealing with what is immediate and concerning his actions are obviously distractions and completely separate matters. There is too much tolerance of the tactic for my taste these days. I know that if it bleeds it leads, but is news just deteriorating down to what amounts to a form of Presidential gossip? That seems like a really low bar there.
When I have an discussion with someone and they start to resort to, what about that or what about YOU, as a means to evade the main point and respond to it, my rule of thumb is, conversation over, it is going to be senseless to argue with someone who uses a tactic like that. It is both insulting and can be used as a means to take an impersonal topic and make it personal which then leads to emotional reactions.
This is important to me. It would be nice to see ads from our side pointing out what is going on with this and PSAs and discussions about it. Why? Well, Trump's War on Logic is working well, so far. It is being normalized and legitimized and if that stops and journalists and politicians refuse to play by saying in effect, "No, this is about you, this particular topic, these particular actions, what you are bringing up is totally another matter. Answer the questions!" then we would make greater strides in reigning in this threat to our country. It could make a difference.
His allegations are often about as pertinent as a bank robber who, when caught, says: "Yeah, but look at how the financial institutions are robbing people! Why arrest me?"
It is the one single thing I think needs to have a lot of attention and focus, as well as why mass media generally plays along as if it is not an important issue. Maybe I am off base, but it just stands out more and more. It is worth reckoning with and mounting a campaign against. He is soiling our political landscape with it and it is being used over and over again.
Am I making too much of this?
= new reply since forum marked as read
