Quote:
Originally Posted by Books
Most of the of the recommendations seemed to mirror the stuff we were coached on for debate class. I remember one teacher telling me that the difference between a liberal debater and a conservative one is that the liberal debater would acknowledge a good point in the conservative's argument (worthy when trying for dialectic understanding; spineless when trying to win an arguement) whereas the conservative would attack with renewed purpose until he or she won.
Perhaps now the Dems are finally starting to understand how to argue?
Doubt it.
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I doubt it, too.
Was your debate class coached by a liberal?
I'll pick apart some of their "debate" techniques.
The fallacies will be referenced between asterisk lines.
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Progressive values are the best of traditional American values. Stand up for your values with dignity and strength. You are a true patriot because of your values.
Remember that right-wing ideologues have convinced half of the country that the strict father family model, which is bad enough for raising children, should govern our national morality and politics. This is the model that the best in American values has defeated over and over again in the course of our history—from the emancipation of the slaves to women ’ s suffrage, Social Security and Medicare, civil rights and voting rights acts, and Brown v. the Board of Education and Roe v. Wade. Each time we have unified our country more behind our finest traditional values.
Remember that everybody has both strict and nurturant models, either actively or passively, perhaps active in different parts of their lives. Your job is to activate for politics the nurturant, progressive values already there (perhaps only passively) in your interlocutors.
Show respect to the conservatives you are responding to. No one will listen to you if you don ’ t accord them respect. Listen to them. You may disagree strongly with everything that is being said, but you should know what is being said. Be sincere. Avoid cheap shots. What if they don ’ t show you respect? Two wrongs don ’ t make a right. Turn the other cheek and show respect anyway. That takes character and dignity. Show character and dignity.
Avoid a shouting match. Remember that the radical right requires a culture war, and shouting is the discourse form of that culture war. Civil discourse is the discourse form of nurturant morality. You win a victory when the discourse turns civil. They win when they get you to shout.
What if you have moral outrage? You should have moral outrage. But you can display it with controlled passion. If you lose control, they win.
Distinguish between ordinary conservatives and nasty ideologues. Most conservatives are personally nice people, and you want to bring out their niceness and their sense of neighborliness and hospitality.
Be calm. Calmness is a sign that you know what you are talking about.
Be good-humored. A good-natured sense of humor shows you are comfortable with yourself.
Hold your ground. Always be on the offense. Never go on defense. Never whine or complain. Never act like a victim. Never plead. Avoid the language of weakness, for example, rising intonations on statements. Your voice should be steady. Your body and voice should show optimism. You should convey passionate conviction without losing control.
Conservatives have parodied liberals as weak, angry (hence not in control of their emotions), weak-minded, softhearted, unpatriotic, uninformed, and elitist. Don ’ t give them any opportunities to stereotype you in any of these ways. Expect these stereotypes, and deal with them when they come up.
By the way you conduct yourself, show strength, calmness, and control; an ability to reason; a sense of realism; love of country; a command of the basic facts; and a sense of being an equal, not a superior. At the very least you want your audience to think of you with respect, as someone they may disagree with but who they have to take seriously. In many situations this is the best you can hope for. You have to recognize those situations and realize that a draw with dignity is a victory in the game of being taken seriously.
Many conversations are ongoing. In an ongoing conversation, your job is to establish a position of respect and dignity, and then keep it.
Don ’ t expect to convert staunch conservatives.
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This long list basicially advocates the fallacy: "style over substance".
Style Over Substance: Presenting something in an attractive way makes it more right.
<personal comment: the humor in this is the fact that they actually have to instruct there own to act like a rational adults>
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