Monday, September 21, 2009

Pounding the table

There is a adage in the law, "When you have the law on your side, pound the law; when you have the facts on your side, pound the facts; if you have neither, pound the table." Pounding the table is a diversion, to take your opponent's focus from the facts and the law.

Civil rights are a defense against the majority, in action as the government, taking advantage of a person of "minority" status. I put that in quotes because the word minority is inaccurate. Women are considered a minority because they act like one, not because they are one. In many voting locales causasians are in a minority vs. non-caucasians. But since these majorities won't work like a majority, our law continues to treat white males as the majority. These "minorities" can get whatever they want in the democratic process. Screaming "Race!" or "Prejudice!" in the middle of the debate is a diversion, not a point of fact or law, because even if it exists, it doesn't matter to the context. Likewise, when the subject complains about the incivility of being called out as a liar, rather than refute the charge of having lied, it's a diversion. "Incivility!" is the new "Race!".

Diversion is a debating tactic that you use when you are losing the debate. In a debate, in a class or competition, it doesn't matter if the victor scores the winning points as a result of superior tactics, even though the issue itself was poorly addressed. In the real life of our national condition, it does matter.

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