The more one engages (well, tries to engage) wingers in substantive debate, the more one becomes aware that they just are not capable of it. Take Ric Ottaiano and his current attack poodle Mike Bliss. Ric appears to have blocked me from commenting at his blog, or perhaps his spam filters have simply gone into overload. I will therefore respond to the latest comments on his post
“My, My, Mr. Gore, What A Big Carbon Footprint You Have” here.
Ottaiano jumped on the ‘Gore-is-a-hypocrite’ bandwagon a few days ago, and I pointed out what he was doing: ignoring the substance of Al Gore’s message on climate change, choosing instead the simple-minded expedient of the ad hominem attack. He tried a straw man:
you still haven;t told me what was incorrect about the facts i set out… not my opinion, but the facts of Al’s energy usage
Ric is apparently either incapable of or unwilling to understand that whatever Gore’s energy usage may be, that bit of trivia is entirely unrelated to Gore’s message.
The latest comment from Bliss is a classic of fallacious argument. Let’s take it apart piece by piece:
Okay meatbrain, I will type slower for you to follow along.
Ad hominem, and fallacious.
Al Gore has commented and made a documentary on “man-made global warming”. He claims that we all must do our part to reverse this trend or the sea levels will rise 20 feet or so. Yet, Mr. Gore is a hypocite.
Ad hominem, and fallacious.
Look at all the energy he burns up, while chiding the rest of us to conserve. That is a hypocrite. Calling him a hypocrite is not an ad homienm attack, it is merely the English definition of the word which best describes this behaviour.
Bliss is wrong (again). Calling Gore a hypocrite is indeed an ad hominem attack. It is a very good bet that Bliss has never viewed “An Inconvenient Truth”, nor read the companion book. If so, he is arguing entirely from a position of ignorance.
Calling you a Gore-apologist is likewise…just the definition of what a person who makes excuses for an eco-abuser (my term for someone who blatantly damages the environment with his over use of energy while clothing himself in the self-proclaimed garments of a Saint).
Two ad hominems in one sentence. Does Bliss think he gets extra points for this?
Did you get all that, meatbeater?
Ad hominem, again.
In short: Both Ottaiano and Bliss chose to ignore the substance of Gore’s arguments, and attack Gore personally. Is it laziness, or a simple inability to read, comprehend, and understand what someone else says? I have no idea… but one sees it all the time from the right. It seems to be a defining quality of that end of the political spectrum.
2 comments
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March 14th, 2007 at 7:52 am
ric ottaiano
dear meat: believe me, i’m not blocking your comments…they’re good for business.
regards from your favorite “ignorant bigoted lying puddle of worm vomit” with the “palsied ass”
p.s. in light of your published description of me, do you really think you ought be criticizing anyone for the use of ad hominems?
and by the way, i agree with Gore’s message of conservation, just like i agree with your apparent dislike of the use of ad hominem attacks in arguments rather than facts…but since you and Al both seem to have exempted yourself from what you urge for others, you’re both…HYPOCRITES!
so thank you very much for making the point for us…you can always be counted on.
March 14th, 2007 at 8:21 am
meatbrain
Since Ottaiano is a known liar, his claim that he isn’t blocking comments is not believable.
“i agree with your apparent dislike of the use of ad hominem attacks in arguments rather than facts…”
Ottaiano is lying yet again. He clearly does not dislike the use of ad hominem attacks in arguments, since he uses those attacks himself. Yes, I do know that I use insults as well, but I do not use them to dismiss the arguments made by others. Ottaiano does. He jumped on the bandwagon of dismissing Gore’s arguments solely on the basis of an ad hominem attack, and he did so knowingly.
It doesn’t matter who points out Ottaiano’s actions, or what else they say: Ottaiano is still guilty of this tactic, and is apparently incapable of any other.