Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The false equivalency of threatening violence and being sarcastic

Rachel Maddow interviewed David Frum on her show; Frum complained about the low level of political discourse during the current election season blaming both Republicans and Democrats. Rachel Maddow pinned him down and forced him to make clear what he was talking about.

Over at Hullabaloo Tristero has posted both the video of the interview and his discussion and dissection of what was said. It is quite fascinating, something that should be reviewed repeatedly and learned from.

David Frum is a master rhetorician. The video shows David Frum at his best, making incendiary accusations and then in pulling every rhetorical trick in the book avoiding being pinned down and taking responsibility for what he says. It also shows Rachel Maddow carefully avoiding the many rhetorical and emotional traps Frum sets and turning them back against him. Tristero then carefully explains what happened. I can't add to what Tristero wrote.

This video and Tristero's explanation of what was happening in it is one of the most educational things I have seen in a long time. Go read it and watch the video.

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