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COLUMNIST: Straw-man tactics

| December 10, 2021 1:00 AM

I see Ralph Ginorio is at it again.

In reading an opinion piece there is a telltale that should always inform the reader as to whether they are being fed someone’s irrational screed, or whether it is a truly thoughtful analysis. It’s a pretty simple indicator. Watch for the number of times the word “they” is used.

“They think,” “they want,” “their objective is,” “they are all…” This is the introduction to a straw man argument.

Straw man arguments lump people into categories. Of course the writer is going to define that category for you. The writer wants you to think that everyone he wants to discredit falls into that category.

In this way, he can create a false narrative about groups of people, and then proceed to discredit the group by discrediting the false narrative he has created. How convenient…

In precisely this way Ginorio is a dishonest writer. Who exactly is the “they” Ralph? Do you think in the same way “every Republican” thinks? Do you really think all Democrats think the same way, without nuance or discernment? The arrogance of it is the sickest part of it.

The pretense of Ginorio’s writing is that it flies under the flag of an educated opinion, as if being a history teacher imbues him with some special insight. The only thing it has imbued Ginorio with is the false credibility to peddle a false narrative in a newspaper that has fallen for it.

STEPHEN D. BRUNO

Dalton Gardens