Philosophy
Barbara has a discussion at Mahablog about the latest in Right-wing smears:
If you don't answer their inane questions, it's an argument from ignorance based inference that something is being hidden. Gotcha.
If you do respond to debunk it, then (just like with Intelligent Design) they simply repeat, repeat, repeat the accusation while ignoring the evidence refuting it. The fact that there is now a "serious disagreement" involving a Presidential candidate shows that it is a serious topic to be reported on widely and the fair and balanced way to present the story is "some say this is true, but slimy politician worried about getting votes denies it." Gotcha.
Further, once you've shown you'll play their silly little game, they'll deluge you with made up accusations to tie you up and make sure you can't stay on message. They will work hard to use up all the oxygen in the room -- gotcha.
And should you try to stop playing it once you've started, the fact that you answered the previous questions, but not the next one is used as evidence that THIS LAST question really has something behind it because if the candidate wasn't hiding something, why wouldn't he answer it the way he did with the others? Hmmm? Gotcha.
One way to deal with it is to do what the Republicans do. Ignore it and slime the person who brought it up. This is why they never have to answer for anything.
The best way to deal with it, though, seems to be what Obama is best at -- going meta. The Wright nonsense? Give a serious talk about race. Show the scam from above the scam as opposed to trying to fight the scam from inside. Show that the problem isn't with the question,itself, but with the fact that we ask THAT inane question instead of the deep one beneath it that we've been ignoring.
The third option is to get a press that isn't so bad that it falls for it every time...never mind...
- The Party Of Hard Work And Personal Responsibility: An Athropologist From Mars Looks At The Election
Sometimes it's good to step back and take a broad look at things and see if they make sense. O.k, so let me see if I understand what is happening here with the Presidential campaign. Take the two presidential candidates and the last two Presidents....
- Magooby's And Obama
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, Before we get to the sermon, a quick anouncement. For those in the Baltimore area, I'll be playing Magooby's Joke House this coming Thursday night. It's an all ages gig, $7 at the...
- Shades Of Racism
An interesting shift in the conversation around Barack Obama?s presidential bid. At first, we saw a lot of this ? ?Is the country ready for a black President?? Ready? What does that mean? I know when I ask the kids if they are ready, it means do you have...
- Obama & Seth Myers At The White House Correspondents' Dinner
Disclaimer: there is a chance I may have broken some ribs over the weekend. If that's the case, I'll probably slow down on the funny entries for a while because unfortunately, apart from sneezing and getting up in the morning when your ribs are...
- Obama Responds To Science Questions
Presidential candidate Barack Obama has responded to fourteen questions submitted by Sciencedebate.com. You can bet that the replies were done by committee full of padding, short sightedness, and politically refined. Nevertheless you may read his responses....
Philosophy
Obama's Birth Certificate and the Republican Trap
Barbara has a discussion at Mahablog about the latest in Right-wing smears:
We?ve been watching this happen for years now: Some juicy bit of disinformation appears on a far-right blog or forum, and within hours it goes up the rightie media infrastructure food chain ? to NewsMax to Drudge to Limbaugh to the Washington Times to Bill O?Reilly ? and then corporate media reports that ?a story is circulating about. ??Other rumors are that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii; his middle name is really ?Muhammad,? not ?Hussein?; his parents weren?t really married...The fact is what we are looking at is trap...the same stupid one the Republican operatives been using for two decades. They create a dilemma:
One might argue the Obama campaign ought to just release the mystery birth certificate to put the rumors to rest. But you know that would just set off a new round of rumors. Some rightie blogger would question the authenticity of the birth certificate, and that very evening Sean Hannity would look into a Faux Nooz camera and intone, why did Barack Obama release a forged birth certificate? Questions are being asked, after all.
The hunger of the right-wing rumor beast can never be satisfied. However, I do strongly suggest the Obama campaign hire some hall monitors for their campaign web sites ? no more unfiltered public comments allowed. Obama supporters will understand.
If you don't answer their inane questions, it's an argument from ignorance based inference that something is being hidden. Gotcha.
If you do respond to debunk it, then (just like with Intelligent Design) they simply repeat, repeat, repeat the accusation while ignoring the evidence refuting it. The fact that there is now a "serious disagreement" involving a Presidential candidate shows that it is a serious topic to be reported on widely and the fair and balanced way to present the story is "some say this is true, but slimy politician worried about getting votes denies it." Gotcha.
Further, once you've shown you'll play their silly little game, they'll deluge you with made up accusations to tie you up and make sure you can't stay on message. They will work hard to use up all the oxygen in the room -- gotcha.
And should you try to stop playing it once you've started, the fact that you answered the previous questions, but not the next one is used as evidence that THIS LAST question really has something behind it because if the candidate wasn't hiding something, why wouldn't he answer it the way he did with the others? Hmmm? Gotcha.
One way to deal with it is to do what the Republicans do. Ignore it and slime the person who brought it up. This is why they never have to answer for anything.
The best way to deal with it, though, seems to be what Obama is best at -- going meta. The Wright nonsense? Give a serious talk about race. Show the scam from above the scam as opposed to trying to fight the scam from inside. Show that the problem isn't with the question,itself, but with the fact that we ask THAT inane question instead of the deep one beneath it that we've been ignoring.
The third option is to get a press that isn't so bad that it falls for it every time...never mind...
- The Party Of Hard Work And Personal Responsibility: An Athropologist From Mars Looks At The Election
Sometimes it's good to step back and take a broad look at things and see if they make sense. O.k, so let me see if I understand what is happening here with the Presidential campaign. Take the two presidential candidates and the last two Presidents....
- Magooby's And Obama
Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere, Before we get to the sermon, a quick anouncement. For those in the Baltimore area, I'll be playing Magooby's Joke House this coming Thursday night. It's an all ages gig, $7 at the...
- Shades Of Racism
An interesting shift in the conversation around Barack Obama?s presidential bid. At first, we saw a lot of this ? ?Is the country ready for a black President?? Ready? What does that mean? I know when I ask the kids if they are ready, it means do you have...
- Obama & Seth Myers At The White House Correspondents' Dinner
Disclaimer: there is a chance I may have broken some ribs over the weekend. If that's the case, I'll probably slow down on the funny entries for a while because unfortunately, apart from sneezing and getting up in the morning when your ribs are...
- Obama Responds To Science Questions
Presidential candidate Barack Obama has responded to fourteen questions submitted by Sciencedebate.com. You can bet that the replies were done by committee full of padding, short sightedness, and politically refined. Nevertheless you may read his responses....