(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Meghan McCain uses ad hominem and adjectives because she cannot articulate an argument [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-31 Conservatives, even those whose fathers Trump has spit on, are rushing to his defense. Meghan McCain is one of those getting her licks in. She shared her opinions in a piece for the Daily Mail headlined , “MEGHAN MCCAIN: I'm scared to death. Don't these Democrat fools know this Trump Witch Hunt will end with America burning at the stake?” Starting with an ad hominem attack is a sign that what will follow relies on an appeal to emotion rather than reason. Calling your antagonists “fools” does nothing to validate your argument. Using the incorrect adjective “Democrat” instead of “Democratic” is a standard Republican slur. While hyperbole and vivid imagery substitute for logic. And we are just at the headline. In fairness, headline specialists rather than opinion-piece authors write newspaper headlines. So I will blame that on the Daily Mail. However, McCain owns what follows. Allow me to critique eight of her passages. 1. She starts: “Pandora's box is open. Brace yourselves for what comes next.” Wishy-washy thinkers use the passive voice. A better writer might have started with, “The Democrats have ripped Pandora’s box open. Brace yourselves.” Now we know who the bad actors are. And by losing “what comes next” — a redundancy, you cannot brace yourself for what came before — the writer does not waste the reader’s time. Plus, it is punchier. 2. She goes on: “Pathetic, partisan Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg announced last night that a New York City grand jury has indicted former President Donald J. Trump.” An ad hominem attack (“pathetic”) combined with an unsubstantiated claim (“partisan”) is weak. It has the same logical vigor as saying, “you will just have to take my word for it, asshole.” Also, note that alliteration is rarely the powerful rhetorical tool many users think it is. 3. She writes: “Bragg's case is widely thought to rely on a strange brew of legal charges that make a perfectly legally pay-off into a state felony.” “Perfectly legal”? We do not even know what the charges are yet. “Widely thought” by whom? She does not say. It belongs to that family of phrases that includes" “some people say,” “my friend's cousin,” and “everyone knows.” 4. A phrase that McCain uses next: “Everyone knows what this is. It's a Democrat-contrived political prosecution of their bogeyman.” She has still presented no evidence for her contention that Trump's prosecution is the left playing politics. 5. She attempts to rectify the omission by referring to a news website. “In a hysterical self-own - that I'd be laughing about if I wasn't scared to death – Politico published a piece on Thursday under the headline: 'Trump Seems to Be the Victim of a Witch Hunt. So What?' McCain seems not to know what “self-own” means. She reiterates her fears — something that seems to get conservative adrenaline going. And she bases her argument on one opinion piece — which she does not link to. So we cannot know the substance of that writer's opinion. (This is it, if you are interested — click here ) 6. She goes on: “I'm no legal expert, so I'll leave it to them to break down the case. But I am a political analyst and let me tell you – regardless of the outcome of a flimsy, unprecedented criminal prosecution of a former president and current candidate – we all lose.” While I commend her honest appraisal that she is “no legal expert,” that did not stop her from offering a legal opinion — as mentioned above, to wit “perfectly legal pay-off.” As for “political analyst,” what is that? I can call myself a “weather analyst” because I know when the sun is shining, but that does not make me a meteorologist. She would have been more accurate if she stated that she has political opinions — most people do. As for “flimsy,” I repeat, we neither know the charges nor the evidence. It is “unprecedented” because no former President has done what Trump has allegedly done. Is it even unprecedented? I remember when Trumped basked in “lock her up” calls for the imprisonment — without due process (which Trump is getting) — of a “current candidate.” How do “we all lose” by upholding the law? 7. She continues: “In a nation so tense, so divided and facing so many uncertainties, this obviously biased prosecution throws over an already cluttered table. The spectre of political violence hangs over nearly every fraught question facing the nation today. What impact will this have on Trump's diehard supporters? What will they think of an American legal system that's become a mockery?” Is the nation so “divided” — or do conservatives want people to believe it is? McCain has still offered no evidence for “obviously biased.” And what is cluttering the table? I am all for rich imagery, but what she is trying to say? The “spectre (is she British) of political violence” exists because Trump promotes it. What “Trump’s diehard supporters” think is irrelevant to a legal proceeding. And conservatives mocking the “American legal system” does not make it a “mockery.” 8. She adds: “I can only picture the fetid wave of gloating and demeaning commentary that is going to be vomited on the American public in the coming days, weeks, and months. She is right. Americans can anticipate a “fetid wave.” However, judging by both the history and the commentary of Republican politicians and their conservative attack dogs of right-wing media, the smart money says the GOP and its Fox handlers will be the ones offering the vomitus of “gloating and demeaning commentary.” There is more, but you get the point. 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