YOU WILL NOT GET VALUABLE INFORMATION FROM THESE ADS!
SPOOFS OF POLITICAL ADS
Watch these ads twice, once
for fun, and once to identify
the “sophistry” involved.
You need to have your speakers on for full enjoyment.
Dictionary Entry:sophistry
Function:noun
Date:14th century
1 : subtly deceptive reasoning or argumentation
2 : SOPHISM: an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid;
especially : such an argument used to deceive
In other words, an argument that sounds good but is actually bogus.
Here are some types of “sophistry” you may find in political
ads.
--Exaggeration
--Facts out of context
--Attacking a straw man
--Implying correlation is causation
--Selective use of objective sources
--Attacking motives rather than addressing merits
--Red herring
--Decrying the slippery slope (sometimes a valid argument, but almost all policy issues eventually come down to "where you draw the line")
Can you think of more?
E-mail me at bruce@bk4sos.org
Things to be suspicious of in ads:
---Taking credit (or placing blame) for the economy. Politicians overstate--column by Edward Lotterman 8-24-06
--Extremely nasty approach (signifies a candidate who is losing and getting desperate)
--Distorted or just plain bad pictures of the opponent (anybody can extract a photo from a video these days--it's easy to make somebody look bad in slow motion or a still)