Fallacies

Show Notes The Sunk Cost Fallacy is committed when someone justifies maintaining or extending a course of action based on the cost already incurred (whether in terms of money, time, effort or intellectual capital). Trump We started out with this clip of Trump justifying sending 4000 more troops into Afghanistan in August of...

Show Notes The Double Standard Fallacy is committed when someone treats two very similar situations differently (usually to their advantage) with no explanation why. Trump We started out with this clip and tweet combo from Trump being happy to accept the media 'calling' the election in 2016 and not so cool about it...

Show Notes The Appeal to Nature is committed when someone assumes that something that is natural is therefore good, or something that is unnatural or artificial is therefore bad. Trump We started out with Trump complaining about artificial lights: We followed that with this 2001 Op Ed from Mike Pence: Then we looked at this...

Show Notes The Appeal to Common Folk is committed when someone tries to get the listeners to believe him by showing them what a regular guy he is. Trump We started out with Trump claiming he's a blue collar worker: We followed that with Trump claiming his followers are in fact super-elite, just like...

Show Notes The Just World Fallacy is committed when someone assumes that if something bad happens to you, it's probably because you're a bad person. Trump We started out with Trump talking about the shooting of Rayshard Brooks: We followed that with Trump's victim blaming following the Tree of Life synagogue shooting: Then we heard...

Show Notes The Appeal to Accomplishment Fallacy is committed when someone refers to their abilities or achievements as a reason to believe them rather than using arguments. Trump We started out with Trump talking about what a rich, successful friend of his said: Then we talked about this extremely self-aware Trump tweet: Mark's British Politics...

Show Notes The McNamara Fallacy is committed when someone treats something as important because it is easy to measure, or dismisses something as unimportant because it is hard to measure. Trump We started out by talking about Robert McNamara's use of Vietnamese death toll as a measure of US success during the Vietnam...

Show Notes The fallacy of Ignoring Linear Time is committed when someone acts like because something hasn't happened yet then it can't or won't happen. Trump We started out by talking about these clips of Trump debating Biden: And then we looked at Trump claiming Hillary couldn't beat ISIS because she hadn't already done...

Show Notes The Fallacy of Worse Evil is committed when someone acts like something is not a problem because worse problems exist or can be imagined. Trump We started out by talking about this clip of Trump on Coronavirus: We followed that with this clip of Trump defending Russia: And then we looked at Louie...

Show Notes The Tokenism Fallacy is committed when someone makes a minimal gesture and claims it is far more significant that it really is. Trump We started out by talking about this Facebook post and why it doesn't prove Trump isn't racist: Then we looked at Trump claiming other things prove he isn't racist...

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