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The use of ad hominems rather than focusing on the issue under discussion is clearly an admission of one lacking a legitimate/reasonable argument.
<div class="">Referring to one as a “hater,” is used by both left and right wingers, generally left wingers trained in the art of slandering opponents. </div>
<div class="">Going so far as to threaten, is a sign of a deranged mind. </div>
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<div class="">Caitlin says it best: <br class="">
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New post on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><strong class="">Caitlin Johnstone</strong></h2>
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<a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?author=2" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178); display: block; margin-right: 10px;" class=""><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/12152988a68a6d4dae7506812444c18f?s=50&d=monsterid&r=G" class="avatar avatar-50" height="50" width="50"></a></td>
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<a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/11/28/attacking-the-source-the-establishment-loyalists-favorite-online-tactic/" style="text-decoration: none !important; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">Attacking The Source: The Establishment Loyalist’s Favorite
Online Tactic</a></h2>
<span style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136);" class="">by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?author=2" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(136, 136, 136) !important;" class="">Caitlin Johnstone</a></span></td>
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If you're skeptical of western power structures and you've ever engaged in online political debate for any length of time, the following has definitely happened to you.</p>
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You find yourself going back and forth with one of those high-confidence, low-information establishment types who's promulgating a dubious mainstream narrative, whether that be about politics, war, Julian Assange, or whatever. At some point they make an assertion
which you<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class="">know</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to be false--publicly available information invalidates the claim they're making.</p>
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"I've got them now!" you think to yourself, if you're new to this sort of thing. Then you share a link to an article or video which makes a well-sourced, independently verifiable case for the point you are trying to make.</p>
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Then, the inevitable happens.</p>
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"LMAO!<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class="">That</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>outlet!" they scoff in response. "That outlet is propaganda/fake news/conspiracy theory trash!"</p>
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Or something to that effect. You'll encounter this tactic over and over and over again if you continually engage in online political discourse with people who don't agree with you. It doesn't matter if you're literally just linking to an interview featuring
some public figure saying a thing you'd claimed they said. It doesn't matter if you're linking to a WikiLeaks publication of a verified authentic document. Unless you're linking to CNN/Fox News (whichever fits the preferred ideology of the establishment loyalist
you're debating), they'll bleat "fake news!" or "propaganda!" or "Russia!" as though that in and of itself magically invalidates the point you're trying to make.</p>
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And of course it doesn't. What they are doing is called attacking the source, also known as an ad hominem, and it's a<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">very
basic logical fallacy</a>.</p>
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Most people are familiar with the term "ad hominem", but they usually think about it in terms of merely hurling verbal insults at people. What it actually means is attacking the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class="">source</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>of
the argument rather than attacking the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class="">argument itself</em><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>in a way that avoids dealing with the question of whether or not the argument itself is true. It's
a logical fallacy because it's used to deliberately obfuscate the goal of a logical conclusion to the debate.</p>
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"An <i class="">ad hominem</i> is more than just an insult,"<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://thebestschools.org/magazine/15-logical-fallacies-know/" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">explains</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>David
Ferrer for<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><i class="">The Quad</i>. "It’s an insult used as if it were an argument or evidence in support of a conclusion. Verbally attacking people proves nothing about the truth or falsity of their claims."</p>
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This can take the form of saying "Claim X is false because the person making it is an idiot." But it can also take the form of "Claim X is false because the person making it is a propagandist," or "Claim X is false because the person making it is a conspiracy
theorist."</p>
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I don't think<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/bellingcat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">@bellingcat</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>knows what's
about to hit them now that<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/caitoz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">@caitoz</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>is
on their case. Settle in for a few fun months as their entire bullshit narrative on<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Syria?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">#Syria</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>chemical
weapons comes tumbling down. Here's her opening jab:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://t.co/jvYfIBkDM2" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">https://t.co/jvYfIBkDM2</a></p>
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— Sharmine Narwani (@snarwani)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/snarwani/status/1199829939119374337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">November 27, 2019</a></p>
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Someone being an idiot, a propagandist or a conspiracy theorist is irrelevant to the question of whether or not what they're saying is true. In<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/narrative-managers-faceplant-in-hilarious-opcw-scandal-spin-job-6710730cda01" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">my
last article</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>debunking a spin job on the OPCW scandal by the narrative management firm Bellingcat, I pointed out that Bellingcat is funded by imperialist regime change operations like the National Endowment for
Democracy, which was worth highlighting because it shows the readers where that organization is coming from. But if I'd left my argument there it would still be an ad hominem attack, because it wouldn't address whether or not what Bellingcat wrote about the
OPCW scandal is true. It would be a logical fallacy; proving that they are propagandists doesn't prove that what they are saying in this particular instance is false.</p>
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What I had to do in order to actually refute Bellingcat's spin job was show that they were making a bad argument using bad logic, which I did by highlighting the way they used pedantic wordplay to make it seem as though the explosive leaks which have been emerging
from the OPCW's investigation of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Douma, Syria were insignificant. I had to show how Bellingcat actually never came anywhere close to addressing the actual concerns about a leaked internal OPCW email, such as extremely
low chlorinated organic chemical levels on the scene and patients' symptoms not matching up with chlorine gas poisoning, as well as the fact that the OPCW investigators plainly don't feel as though their concerns were met since they're blowing the whistle
on the organisation now.</p>
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And, for the record, Bellingcat's lead trainer/researcher guy responded to my arguments by<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/AricToler/status/1199833224219897862" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">saying
I'm a conspiracy theorist</a>. I personally count that as a win.</p>
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The correct response to someone who attacks the outlet or individual you're citing instead of attacking the actual argument being made is, "You're attacking the source instead of the argument. That's a logical fallacy, and it's only ever employed by people
who can't attack the argument."</p>
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The demand that you only ever use mainstream establishment media when arguing against establishment narratives is itself an inherently contradictory position, because establishment media by their very nature do not report facts against the establishment. It's
saying "You're only allowed to criticise establishment power using outlets which never criticize establishment power."</p>
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2/2 No principle is worth nuclear war. This honest reporter,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/caitoz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">@caitoz</a>, beholden to
no ideology or special interest, calls it as it is, not as the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MSM?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">#MSM</a>wants
to see --<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://t.co/miDXqmZAG7" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">https://t.co/miDXqmZAG7</a></p>
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— Oliver Stone (@TheOliverStone)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/TheOliverStone/status/1199374699215540224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">November 26, 2019</a></p>
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Good luck finding a compilation of Trump's dangerous escalations against Moscow like<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://consortiumnews.com/2019/11/19/25-times-trump-has-been-dangerously-hawkish-on-russia/" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">the
one I wrote the other day</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>anywhere in the mainstream media, for example. Neither mainstream liberals nor mainstream conservatives are interested in promoting that narrative, so it simply doesn't exist in the mainstream
information bubble. Every item I listed in that article is independently verifiable and sourced from separate mainstream media reports, yet if you share that article in a debate with an establishment loyalist and they know who I am, nine times out of ten they'll
say something like "LOL Caitlin Johnstone?? She's nuts!" With "nuts" of course meaning "Says things my TV doesn't say".</p>
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It's possible to just click on all the hyperlinks in my article and share them separately to make your point, but you can also simply point out that they are committing a logical fallacy, and that they are doing so because they can't actually attack the argument.</p>
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This will make them very upset, because for the last few years establishment loyalists have been told that it is perfectly normal and acceptable to attack the source instead of the argument. The mass hysteria about "fake news" and "Russian propaganda" has left
consumers of mainstream media with the unquestioned assumption that if they ever so much as glance at an RT article their faces will begin to melt like that scene in<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><em class="">Raiders of the Lost Ark</em>. They've
been trained to believe that it's perfectly logical and acceptable to simply shriek "propaganda!" at a rational argument or well-sourced article which invalidates their position, or even to proactively go around calling people Russian agents who dissent from
mainstream western power-serving narratives.</p>
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But it isn't logical, and it isn't acceptable. The best way to oppose their favorite logically fallacious tactic is to call it like it is, and let them deal with the cognitive dissonance that that brings up for them.</p>
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Me: This link proves my claim.<br class="">
Empire loyalist: Eww, THAT outlet? They publish criticisms of western imperialism!<br class="">
Me: Yeah. That's why I'm linking to them.<br class="">
Empire loyalist: No. You can only criticize western imperialism linking to outlets that never criticize western imperialism.</p>
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— Caitlin Johnstone<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><img src="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcom-smileys/twemoji/2/72x72/23f3.png" alt="⏳" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>(@caitoz)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/caitoz/status/1199723026176077825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">November
27, 2019</a></p>
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Of course some nuance is needed here. You can't just post a link to some Youtuber making an unsubstantiated assertion and then accuse the person you're debating of attacking the source when they dismiss it. That which has been presented without evidence<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchens%27s_razor" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">may
be dismissed without evidence</a>, and if the link you're citing consists of nothing other than unproven assertions by someone they've got no reason to take on their word, they can rightly dismiss it.</p>
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If however the claims in the link you're citing are logically coherent arguments or well-documented facts presented in a way that people can independently fact-check, it doesn't matter if you're citing CNN or Sputnik. The only advantage to using CNN instead
would be that it allows you to skip the part where they perform the online equivalent of putting their fingers in their ears and humming.</p>
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Don't allow those who are still sleeping bully those who are not into silence. Insist on facts, evidence, and intellectually honest arguments, and if they refuse to provide them call it what it is: an admission that they have lost the debate.</p>
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__________________________</p>
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<em class="">Thanks for reading! The best way to get around the internet censors and make sure you see the stuff I publish is to subscribe to the mailing list for my <a title="This link will take you away from steemit.com" href="http://caitlinjohnstone.com/" rel="nofollow noopener" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">website</a>,
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<strong class=""><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?author=2" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">Caitlin Johnstone</a></strong><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>| November 28, 2019 at 3:21 am | Tags:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?taxonomy=post_tag&term=ad-hominem" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">ad
hominem</a>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?taxonomy=post_tag&term=attacking-the-source" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">attacking the source</a>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?taxonomy=post_tag&term=debate" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">debate</a>,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?taxonomy=post_tag&term=logical-fallacy" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">logical
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Categories:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://caitlinjohnstone.com/?taxonomy=category&term=article" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">Article</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>| URL:<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1W9" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(37, 133, 178);" class="">https://wp.me/p9tj6M-1W9</a></div>
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