Am I mistaken or is the only arrow in some people’s debating quiver the charge of hypocrisy? For example, a comment in my recent post on a cross-border attack into Pakistan evoked this comment:
And once again, we end up following Obama’s heavily criticized positions on foreign policy, not McCain’s. Sure looks like the Bush Administration thinks Obama’s judgment is better.
How many things are wrong with that statement? Let me count the ways.
First, it’s irrelevant to the point at hand since I was gently criticizing the attack (just as I criticized Sen. Obama’s advocacy of such unapproved cross-border attacks). Second, it implicitly endorses the attack and, consequently, the Bush Administration (which I suspect was not the intention of the commenter).
And, finally, if it’s suggesting that I or the corporate we are hypocritical or seeking partisan gain it is an ad hominem attack which, like practically all such attacks, is irrelevant because it doesn’t seek to address the proposition but rather to discredit the opponent.
Bring back the trivia!
And it’ll only get worse until election day unfortunately.