ARGUMENTS: What doesn't work

Stephen Bruno’s letter on Jan. 6 about the “straw man” approach to debate was well written and right on. That is a ploy often used in the LTE section of The Press. Fair-minded readers should take heed and not allow themselves to be misled by any such flawed reasoning.

Appealing to patriotism is an even more common false premise used in the LTEs in place of a well-reasoned argument. Kneeling or not, placing one’s hand over the heart or not, or even saluting or not are not compelling points in any discussion. Nor are they signs of how American someone is, especially when those acts are clearly supported by OUR Constitution.

The same goes for appeals to religion and God. By the way, I do not care whether the Founding Fathers were deists or not. It is clear in their writings and in the Constitution that they believed that mixing religion with government is a bad idea.

MORTON KRAUS

Coeur d’Alene