Logical Fallacies Part III

1. Logical Fallacies Part III Ad Hominem Ad Populum Faulty Appeals

2. Woody Allen does not deserve a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  After all, the guy had an affair and then later married his adopted daughter.  This is certainly not the type of man Hollywood should hold up as an example. • You should buy Crest toothpaste. I read last week that 90% of America brushes with Crest, so it must be pretty good.

3. Spike Lee is the greatest film director of our time. No one fills the movie theaters like he does. • "Obama's got a health care logo that's right out of Adolf Hitler's playbook ... Adolf Hitler, like Barack Obama, also ruled by dictate." —Rush Limbaugh, Aug. 6, 2009

4. I got this huge argument with Barry last night. He was claiming that everyone should adopt a vegetarian lifestyle because we have a moral obligation to respect animals’ right to life and to refrain from causing them suffering to satisfy our own purposes. But really, how can take what he says serious on this subject. He wears leather shoes. • Yeah, I remember thinking that way when I was your age. Trust me: someday you’ll see things differently and agree with me.

5. I’ve got a real problem with those who want to remove the phrase “under God” from the pledge of allegiance. These folks don’t seem to remember that this nation was founded on Christian principles and that Americans have always believed that acknowledging the Creator is important. • The majority of Americans are Christian and have no problem with the phrase “under God” in the pledge, so we should not take it out. • Historians agree that removing the phrase “under God” from the pledge does not go against the intent of the founding fathers.

6. "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's 'death panel' so his bureaucrats can decide, based on a subjective judgment of their 'level of productivity in society,' whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil." --Sarah Palin, in a message posted on Facebook about Obama's health care plan, Aug. 7, 2009

7. "Most of these feminists are radical, frustrated lesbians, many of them, and man-haters, and failures in their relationships with men, and who have declared war on the male gender. The Biblical condemnation of feminism has to do with its radical philosophy and goals. That's the bottom line.“ --Jerry Falwell • "Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."--Pat Robertson at the 1992 Republican National Convention

8. ''It may be a blessing in disguise. ... Something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. Haitians were originally under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon the third, or whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, we will serve you if you will get us free from the French. True story. And so, the devil said, okay it's a deal. Ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other.'' • —Pat Robertson, on the earthquake in Haiti that destroyed the capital and killed tens of thousands of people, Jan. 13, 2010

9. ''This will play right into Obama's hands. He's humanitarian, compassionate. They'll use this to burnish their, shall we say, 'credibility' with the black community -- in the both light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country. It's made-to-order for them. That's why he couldn't wait to get out there, could not wait to get out there.'' • —Rush Limbaugh, on Haiti earthquake relief, Jan. 13, 2010

10. "Everywhere I go in my district, people tell me they are frightened. … I share that fear, and I believe they should be fearful. And I believe the greatest fear that we all should have to our freedom comes from this room — this very room — and what may happen later this week in terms of a tax increase bill masquerading as a health care bill. I believe we have more to fear from the potential of that bill passing than we do from any terrorist right now in any country.” • Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) from the floor of the House of Representatives

11. "AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals. To oppose it would be like an Israelite jumping in the Red Sea to save one of Pharaoh's charioteers ... AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." –Jerry Falwell • "He is purple — the gay-pride color, and his antenna is shaped like a triangle — the gay pride symbol." – • from a "Parents Alert" issued in Jerry Falwell'sNational Liberty Journal, warning that "TinkyWinky," a character on the popular PBS children's show, "Teletubbies," may be gay

12. "I would warn Orlando that you're right in the way of some serious hurricanes, and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you, This is not a message of hate -- this is a message of redemption. But a condition like this will bring about the destruction of your nation. It'll bring about terrorist bombs; it'll bring earthquakes, tornadoes, and possibly a meteor." • –Pat Robertson, on "gay days" at Disneyworld

13. I don’t think the issue’s about being against gay marriage. It’s about being for traditional marriage and articulating the reason that’s important. You have to have a basic family structure. There’s never been a civilization that has rewritten what marriage and family means and survived. And if you look at states that have had it on the ballot—I know in our state it was a 70-percent-against. Most states are similar to that. • Mike Huckabee

15. “The abortionists have got to bear some burden for [the 9/11 attacks] because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way -- all of them who have tried to secularize America -- I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen.“ --Jerry Falwell on the causes of the attacks on the US on 9/11/01

16. Anti-smoking laws are wrong. If the government is allowed to ban smokers from smoking in public, what is to stop them from restricting other groups of people who do things that other people don't like, like garlic eaters, gum chewers, perfume wearers, and whistlers.

17. Public schools should be held up to certain standards, just like any business. Let's face it: in the business world, employees are given regular reviews, profits determine whether a business succeeds or fails, and employees are constantly tested in high-pressure situations. Our schools are in a shambles because administrators have not prepared students for statewide tests that measure ability and aptitude. Standardized tests are the only way that we can hope to achieve excellence in our schools. If schools continue to show poor student performance, then we'll shut those schools down, just like any failing corporation.

18. EDITOR: Along the lines of Vivienne Hutchison's Dec. 9 letter regarding gender issues, my daughter recently reported she had watched a documentary on TV involving a study of two groups of 10- to 11-year-olds, one of girls, one of boys.Each group was placed in a separate home, and they were left to fend for themselves for a week. They were provided food, crayons, etc. Cameras monitored their behaviors.After the week the boys had trashed their home, crayoned the walls to mud, divided themselves into rival gangs, pelted the home's exterior with fruit, etc. The girls tried their best to keep their home clean. They did write on the walls with their crayons, but cleaned that up afterwards. They worked and organized together and kept harmonious relationships going.And we wonder who should be running the country (nation, world).MARY RYASONSanta Rosa Press Democrat 12-14-04