Fallacious Political Attacks

I've gotten a lot more into blogs recently, reading and enjoying several interesting ones. You can see many of these at the lower right. I find there to be a lot of interesting information in them that I simply wouldn't find elsewhere, and I'm much richer for it.

But I find one common type of blog post a silly waste of time. Why is it so common for someone of one political leaning to find the craziest, most whacked out person on the other side and hold them up as a representative of entire classes of people? For example, a liberal finds some religious wacko in Kansas that thinks all homosexuals should be jailed, and somehow this is proof that all Christians are crazy fascists. Conversely, a conservative finds some crazy Jew-hater in Berkeley, and somehow this is proof that all liberals are illogical idiots. I'm think I may know the reason - the attacker feels better about themselves while avoiding any contemplation on the real logic behind the issues. It's easier to lash out and feel better about yourself than it is to think about and discuss the real logic.

A sad side effect of this is that most of the better political lines of thought on one side are ignored by the other. When you read an excellent group blog like The Corner from one end of the political sphere, they rarely debate the intelligent commentary made from a similar blog from the opposite side, such as the Washington Monthly blog. When they do, they usually find the worst line of argument and take it down, but leave the main logic intact. I think that this is because most commentators, and in fact most adults, have grown comfortable in their political opinions and have no desire to challenge them.

Political opinions are made by humans, but they exist outside of any one human. Just because Clinton was a liar and a cheat doesn't mean that every bit of liberal philosophy is wrong, and just because some think W. is stupid doesn't mean that all conservative policies are wrong. And this is especially true for people far crazier than either of those two. If Osama himself tells you that 2+2=4, and Colin Powell tells you 2+2=5... well, I'm sorry, but Osama is right. That doesn't make him right on everything, just this one thing. Don't look at the person making the argument, but instead look at the argument itself.

Postscript: As I was thinking about this, I saw this somewhat similar post, which is also worth reading on the subject.