Tonight in my English class I was discussing fallacies that are common in argument. I informed the students that these fallacies were not simply problems in freshmen research papers.
“post hoc, ergo procter hoc” is the belief that something coming before is the cause of what comes after. Therefore we have the research study in which the US’s religiousity is blamed for its violence.
The “ad hominem” is an attack on the person as an argument. I referenced the “BushHitler” meme.
Then there was the “either/or” fallacy, where an argument gives two options as the only options. Either you accept Miers as a Supreme Court Justice nominee or you’re sexist. That wasn’t quite what Mrs. Bush said, but many people took it that way. Including Michelle Malkin.