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gulliver

(13,180 posts)
Sun Jul 26, 2020, 11:34 AM Jul 2020

The right's use of lying assumed premises in spreading their messaging.

One thing you don't see Dems doing nearly as often as Republicans is burying sneaky messages in their arguments and questions as premises. Here's an example of what it would look like if Dems did it. The payload of the message is a lie (as far as I know).

"Dems fear that the Republican Party leadership's decision to give Taiwan to China in exchange for support in the 2020 election could give Republicans a big win, but it would be a betrayal that would harm America's long-term economic and security goals."

In this one, the "Dems" (who don't actually do sneaky crap like this, I emphasize) seem to be arguing that giving Taiwan to China would be a bad idea. Well, of course it would. The listener is invited to agree with the obvious. The part about the Republican Party deciding to do it (the lie) just comes along for the ride. The listener is left feeling that they are "agreeing" with a statement that is basically an intentional lie.

Next time you read something that claims to quote Republicans or comes from Republicans, even if it seems positive for Dems, look to see if there isn't at least one (often there are two or three) lying premise that is the real payload.

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The right's use of lying assumed premises in spreading their messaging. (Original Post) gulliver Jul 2020 OP
they are a case study in rhetorical fallacies and propaganda. unblock Jul 2020 #1

unblock

(52,233 posts)
1. they are a case study in rhetorical fallacies and propaganda.
Sun Jul 26, 2020, 11:51 AM
Jul 2020

and yes, that is indeed one of their favorites. it's the old "when did you stop beating your wife?" trick.
don't level an accusation, just assume it's true and then move on to something that assumes it's true.

so, they don't accuse a democrat of doing something scandalous, they move straight on to demanding an apology or hearings or impeachment or whatever, as if they'd already proved the underlying accusation was true.


republicans rely on this crap because logical debate works against them, so they cheat in their rhetoric just as they cheat in everything else.

democrats are horrible at this game, we aren't even good at calling republicans out on it.

even when donnie lies, we deconstruct it and counter point by point how his statements are false, instead of just saying, this guy has lied 20,000 times, he's lying because that's all he knows how to do.

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