Common Fallacies used by the Right Wing

Ever been in an argument with a conservative before and they bring up something that seems hard to refute?

May have been difficult because it's a fallacy, an argument that is flawed, if it can be spotted in an argument, you should put the person on the spot, because a fallacy renders an argument invalid.

Appeal to Authority
“We need common sense judges who understand that our rights are derived from God. Those are the kind of judges I intend to put on the bench.”
A quote by George W. Bush on a site owned the extremist Traditional Values Coalition.
Just because Bush or some other figure authority says it, that does not automatically make it true.
Bush has also told us that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, Iran was seeking nuclear weapons, and that he would fire whoever leaked Valerie Plame's name to the media. None of those three were true.

Begging the Question
"We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
Said by Condoleezza Rice.
Rice had made the assumption that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, this turned out not to be true.

False Analogy
"Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians."
Said by Pat Robertson, 1993 interview with Molly Ivins.
"It's no different. It is the same thing. It is happening all over again. It is the Democratic Congress, the liberal-based media and the homosexuals who want to destroy the Christians. Wholesale abuse and discrimination and the worst bigotry directed toward any group in America today. More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."
That's the rest of the argument and here you can see what is wrong with it. Pat never specifies how exactly evangelical Christians are persecuted like the Jews. And of course, the evangelical Christians in America are not persecuted; there are no pogroms against them, they are not confined to ghettos, and they are not being forced into death camps on trains.

False Cause Fallacy
"Let's look at the facts since prayer was removed from our children's classrooms: Teenage pregnancy is off the charts, crime is off the charts, drug abuse is off the charts and homicides are off the charts. Abortion is not being used in cases of medical necessity or rape; it is used as a birth-control method, and not once, but over and over again."
This was written by a conservative in a letter to the editor for the Columbus Dispatch.
It is true that people eat ice cream in the summer.
It is also true that people drown more in the summer than at any other time.
So, is it true that ice cream causes drowning?

There are many other fallacies, so to save time, a case study is in order. The site of the Traditional Values Coalition is rife with fallacies of all types.

Page titled "Scientists Doubt Climate Change Is Man-Made Problem" is an example of an argumentum ad populum. An argument ad populum which states that if a lot of people believe in something then it must be true.
"Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) issued an important report on climate change shortly before the Christmas recess. The report debunks the claims by Al Gore and other radical environmentalists that “consensus” exists on the causes and extent of global warming.
More than 400 scientists are quoted in this report. Many of them are current or former members of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)."
If a person can gather 400 people who say that the world is flat, does that make it true?
The page showing this fallacy can be found at:
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3218

Page titled "What? United Nations Thinks Iceland Is The Best Place To Live?" is an example of the straw man argument. This argument misrepresents what the position of an opponent, setting up an easier argument, and then knocking down the easier argument.
"The United Nations has just issued a report claiming that Iceland is the best place to live on earth. Other nations in the top 10 were Norway, Australia, Canada and Ireland. The U.S. was listed in 12th place down from 8th place in 2006.
“What? Let me get this straight,” said TVC Executive Director Andrea Lafferty, “Millions of people are clamoring to enter the United States and the United Nations lists America as 12th in this list? Once again the U.N. shows their disdain for the United States.”"
Is what Lafferty saying is that millions of people would not be entering the US if it was in 12th place? How does she really know this? And how exactly does the UN have disdain for the United States by doing this? Is she putting up actual research, or is she just setting up a straw man in order to attack the United Nations?
The page showing this fallacy can be found at:
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3196

Page titled "Syphilis Epidemic Spreads In Europe – Fueled By Homosexual Men" is an example of the hasty generalization. A hasty generalization is a generalization of a whole group based on the actions of a few.
"Syphilis, once a fairly rare disease in Europe, is now making a come-back, thanks to urban homosexual males."
The Traditional Values seems to be blaming gay men as a whole for spreading syphilis. I'm pretty sure that if you're gay and in a mutually monogamous relationship, then you aren't spreading the disease, seems as though they forgot about that.
The page showing this fallacy can be found at:
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3217

The Traditional Values Coalition's report titled "The Homosexual Movement And Pedophilia" is an appeal to emotion and can also be considered an appeal to spite. Being gay is becoming increasingly accepted, when it used to be taboo. However, pedophilia is considered to be taboo, and rightly so, and it will always be considered to be taboo.
The argument here is an emotional one and is full of just that rather than actual research. Some pictures that prove nothing such as a man holding a poster saying "I'm gay and I teach America's children!", there's also the picture of some guy in a dark vehicle menacing some kids. What's this supposed to show us, other than the Traditional Values Coalition is making an appeal to emotion? Maybe they're thinking that if they put "gay" and "pedophile" in the same area, they can get some sort of Pavlovian response out of people. The first section closes with this:
"Many homosexuals are sexual predators who prey on children."
This ignores the fact that most child molesters and pedophiles are, in fact, heterosexual.
This 'Report' can be found at:
http://www.traditionalvalues.org/homosexual_movement_and_pedophilia/

Here is a list of fallacies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies
I just wanted to put them in a political context.

Go out into the Web sometime, try to find political fallacies. And if you're in a debate with a conservative, and they use one, tell them straight out what it is, because if you let it slide, they'll think it's OK to not only use fallacies, but they'll probably believe fallacies from Bush and other Republicans as truth. We could change so many people on the other side if they only knew how deceptive the leaders of their movement can be.

seems that most of their arguments are based on fallacies (and projection).

I simply ask them this:

"How have you benefited economically from Bush's Presidency? How do you feel that we are wasting trillions of dollars on foreign wars?"

Many of them scratch their heads, and say "I've got it harder than ever. I'm not getting paid more, and things are more expensive. Why is gas so expensive now?"

"Cuz you AREN'T supposed to benefit. You're supposed to do what you're told. Is that how you like it?"

Answers vary, after that. Some can be salvaged, many enjoy the comfort of being told what to do, though.