Diane Douglas

In which I explain how Espresso Pundit does not know what the Ad Hominem fallacy is

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Crossposted from DemocraticDiva.com

Arizona Board of Regents member Greg Patterson, aka the Espresso Pundit, has come at me with what pedantic mansplainers everywhere consider to be the most potent weapon they have in their arsenal. In other words, Patterson is accusing me of committing a logical fallacy. Sexist pedants love to trot out the List of Logical Fallacies to slay the arguments of women who disagree with them because ladies are so emotional and illogical amirite? However, since these pedants so often mistake their own opinions for objective fact, their attempts to characterize things as logical fallacies tend to go comically awry, as we see here:

Here’s an example of actual Ad Hominem. In which Braham Resnik refers to Diane Douglass as a “girl” and I question whether the reference is professional or appropriate. Donna Gratehouse then tries to dismiss my point because…I’m pro-life. Because pro life people apparently can’t complain when a reporter refers to the Superintendent of Public instruction as a “girl.”

This attempt to rebut my argument by attacking my character is classic ad hominem. Here’s the exchange.

Espresso Pundit tweet

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GOP chickens

Ducey, Brnovich, Douglas & Forese: Why Are You Afraid of Tucson?

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GOP chickens
If Tea Party Republicans can’t bother to come to Tucson to meet us, they don’t deserve our votes!

It was bad enough when Republican gubernatorial candidate Dicey Doug Ducey decided to duck debates in Tucson, but now the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson (LWVGT) has reported that only ONE of the invited Republicans– Corporation Commission candidate Doug  “I Heart APS” Little– will participate in a televised LWVGT debate in Tucson. All of the Democratic candidates agreed to the LWVGT debate invitation, along with Libertarian Barry Hess and “Independent Constitutionalist” J.L. Mealer.

“Dark Money” Ducey, Attorney General candidate Mark “Nullify the Constitution” Brnovich, Diane “Tea Party Tool” Douglas, and Tom “I Heart APS” Forese have all decided that debating in Arizona’s second largest city is not worth their time. These cowardly Republicans are taking a page from the playbooks of Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain: don’t go south of Oro Valley, unless you have to rush to the border for a photo opp.

Was it something we said? Or something they’re afraid we’ll say? Did someone tell them that every old hippie artist in Tucson has protest signs tucked behind the couch? Let’s face it. These bought-and-paid-for Koch Brothers candidates can’t hold a candle to the Democratic Party’s slate, and they know it. They don’t want to look stupid on camera. They prefer to hide and hope no one will notice. (Remember Jan Brewer’s on-camera brain fart in 2010?)

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