Ad hominem

Sounds like part of a recipe, doesn't it. Just add hominem and stir.

I had hominy once and didn't much care for it. Why would anyone think to soak corn in lye and then chow down? Same principle lutefisk. But I digress.

Thanks to MTV among a myriad of other reasons, we no longer listen to arguments very well. We have lazy, ADD addled ears. When an issue crosses our path that does grab our attention, the pitchman will connive and contort better than a carnival barker, and we become deceived.

One technique to make a point by not really making a point is to "attack the man" for that is what ad hominem means.

Think back to Sarah Palin. Arguably, the left hated her. That may be too polite. Can you think of anything sterner than "loathe"? Anyway, considering John McCain tagged her as his running mate during his presidential bid, the best way to derail her would be to counter her political arguments or her political positions, right?

Did the left once hammer her politics? I don't recall it. They attacked "the man"-- er -- "the woman" (ad feminem?). Sarah Palin from Wasilla! Ewww. She's wrong because she went to seventeen colleges. Look at her hair. Her tax plan is stupid because she spent a million dollars in sacks shopping (or was it at Saks?). Her international policies will have us fighting wars on every planet because she hunts moose! And her daughter's pregnant.

What does any of this say about her ideas? It might say much about her character but it says nothing about the philosophy she would use to lead.

Specifically, the ad hominem attack distracts. It's a shell game; its slight-of-hand. Yeah, it all sounds good, Keith, but you played hockey! Um, so? I still have all my teeth.

So next time you hear someone trying to convince you of something, me included, be on guard for the ad hominem attack. It's cheap, it's easy, and it's very effective.

But it's wrong. Take it from a Minnesota boy.