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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums5 Things Conservatives Lie Shamelessly About
http://www.alternet.org/5-things-conservatives-lie-shamelessly-about***SNIP
1. Creationism. Its no surprise creationists inspired the coining of the term Gish Gallop, as they have perfected the art of making up nonsense faster than scientists can refute it. The list of false or irrelevant claims made by creationists, as chronicled by Talk Origins, numbers in the dozens, perhaps even hundreds, and more are always being spun out. Trying to argue with a creationist, therefore, turns into a hellish game of Whack-A-Mole. Debunk the lie that the speed of light is not constant, and youll find hes already arguing that humans co-existed with dinosaurs. Argue that its unconstitutional to put the story of Adam and Eve in the science classroom, and find hes pretending he was never asking for that and instead wants to teach the controversy.
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2. Climate change denialism. This strategy worked so well for creationism it makes perfect sense that it would be imported to the world of climate change denialism. Climate change denialists have many changing excuses for why they reject the science showing that human-caused greenhouse gases are changing the climate, but what all these reasons have in common is they are utter nonsense in service of a predetermined opposition to taking any action to prevent further damage.
***SNIP
3. The Affordable Care Act. Its not just science where conservatives have discovered the value in telling lies so fast you simply wear your opposition out. When it comes to healthcare reform, the lying has been relentless. There are the big lies, such as calling Obamacare socialism, which implies a single-payer system, when in fact, its about connecting the uninsured with private companies and giving consumers of healthcare a basic set of rights. In a sense, even the name Obamacare is a lie, as the bill was, per the Presidents explicit wishes, written by Congress.
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4. Contraception mandate. The ACA-based requirement that insurance plans cover contraception without a copay has generated a Gish Gallop so large it deserves its own category. Jodi Jacobson of RH Reality Check chronicled 12 of the biggest lies generated by the right-wing noise machine in just the past couple of years since the mandate was even announced. It is not free birth control, nor is it paid for by employers. The birth control coverage is paid for by the employees, with benefits they earn by working. The mandate doesnt cover abortifacients, only contraception. No, birth control doesnt work by killing fertilized eggs, but by preventing fertilization. Its simply false that the prescriptions in question can all be replaced with a $9-a-month prescription from Walmart, as many womens prescriptions run into the hundreds and even thousands a year. No, its not true that the contraception mandate is about funding womens lifestyle, because statistics show that having sex for fun instead of procreation is a universal human behavior and not a marginal or unusual behavior as the term lifestyle implies.
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5 Things Conservatives Lie Shamelessly About (Original Post)
xchrom
Apr 2014
OP
Ilsa
(61,692 posts)1. The 5th is Gun Safety, gun stats, lies from nra. nt
JHB
(37,158 posts)2. And for those who don't know the term "Gish Gallop"...
The Gish Gallop is the debating technique of drowning the opponent in such a torrent of small arguments that their opponent cannot possibly answer or address each one in real time. More often than not, these myriad arguments are full of half-truths, lies, and straw-man arguments - the only condition is that there be many of them, not that they be particularly compelling on their own. They may be escape hatches or "gotcha" arguments that are specifically designed to be brief, but take a long time to unravel.
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The term was coined by Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education, named after creationist Duane Gish. Creationists are fond of it, see "101 evidences for a young age of the Earth and the universe" for example, which is perhaps the most stunning case. Sam Harris describes the technique as "starting 10 fires in 10 minutes."
http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gish_Gallop
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The term was coined by Eugenie Scott of the National Center for Science Education, named after creationist Duane Gish. Creationists are fond of it, see "101 evidences for a young age of the Earth and the universe" for example, which is perhaps the most stunning case. Sam Harris describes the technique as "starting 10 fires in 10 minutes."
It's most effective when there is limited time and the audience does not have the background to evaluate what is claimed. It creates the illusion of thoroughness and depth just by launching a cloud of balloons with not enough time to pop them all.