The straw man 155
Normally I would object to spitting at public figures, but the threat of
global warming is so awful...
(As is the threat of fluoridation, Sunday trading and canine nudity. It
depends on how strongly you feel about it.)
On a personal level, we are all apt to be more tolerant of
ourselves than we are of others. For behaviour we would uni-
versally condemn from others, we invent excuses to forgive it in
ourselves. Our queue-jumping is excused by urgency, but not
that of anyone else. Our impulse buying is justified by need;
others who do it are spendthrift. The same standards which
excuse ourselves also excuse our team, our group, our town and
our country.
When using special pleading in support of your own side, take
care that you always supply some specious justification to
account for the exception from the general rule. It is never just
because it is your side which is involved; always there are special
circumstances of public interest.
With any other boy I'd be the first to admit that burning down the school
was wrong, but Michael is very highly strung, as talented people tend to
be...
(Talented people get away with arson, it seems, as well as murder.)
The straw man
The straw man of logic does not scare anyone. No self-respecting
crow would even rustle a feather at him; he is too easy to knock
down. Precisely. The straw man is made incredibly easy to knock
down so that when you are unable to refute your opponent's
argument, you can topple the straw man instead. The straw man
