Re: Cheney?s Model Republican: More Limbaugh, Less Powell
To wander into the off-topic wilderness where the poster running the "bit" known as Munchkin Man has become lost:
Lost?
You are the one who has lost this argument with all of the logical fallacies the Munchkin Man has exposed from your end.
we practice exclusion quite often.
The Munchkin Man thanks you for your honesty.
We exclude those persons from society who have been shown to have an mental or emotional defect or abnormality to the point where they are a demonstrated danger to themselves or others. Such persons are involuntarily committed for medical treatment.
For the preservation and safety of human society, the Munchkin Man will agree that the practice of
exclusion is justified in the scenario described above.
However.......................
How does this apply to Joe Contrarian and your advocacy of a policy of
exclusion against respecting his right to express his opinions and views on American policies?
Are you saying that he has a "mental or emotional defect or abnormality" which justifies this policy of
exclusion?
If so, what is your evidence for the above?
What are your professional qualifications for making a diagnosis of the above?
Where is your evidence that he is a
"demonstrated danger to himself or others."
Your use of the word
"demonstrated" suggests that you have firsthand evidence of "demonstrations" of his danger to himself and others, which have actually been observed and verified as fact.
If what the Munchkin Man is saying in the paragraph above is incorrect, then your entire point has been rendered null and void.
Now then.
Just for the sake of argument, suppose that Joe Contrarian is in possession of the characteristics you have described above, in spite of your lack of evidence.
You have still failed to prove your case that a policy of
exclusion against his right to be heard, with his self-expression of his views and opinions on American policies, is justified.
Consider the following hypothetical example:
Suppose that a person who has been institutionalized for a mental illness for several years has spent much of his time conducting private scientific research for a cure for cancer.
Finally, he claims that he has discovered a cure for his cancer.
Should his claim be automatically discounted and
excluded, on the sole basis of his diagnosis of mental illness?
The Munchkin Man's answer is NO.
The Munchkin Man believes that he has the right to be heard, and that he should be heard, and that the evidence he has proposed for his cure for cancer should be examined and investigated.
The validity of whatever scientific evidence he has produced for his proposed cure for cancer should be examined on its very own merits and treated as completely independent from his state of mental illness or any other personal characteristics you find objectionable.
In summary:
By continuing to advocate a policy of
exclusion from the opinions and views of Joe Contrarian, on the basis of a possible non-American nationality, the supposition that he may be a
phony, unproven suggestions that he may have a mental illness, or any other personal qualities you find objectionable, you are continuing to practice the use of
argumentum ad hominem.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
You're welcome.
Munchkin Man