I just finished rereading one of the best books on the pure concentrated evil that is Holocaust Denial, Deborah Lipstatd's "Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory." If you haven't read it, it's a damn good book which utterly destroys many of the arguments that are parroted by the Neo-Nazi fascists who still think they can fool people.
But this isn't about them. This is about the Republican/Tea Party, and how they've stolen their tactics and style from the purest form of evil out there.
(Tactics on the Flip.)
Let's start with one of the Holocaust deniers biggest tactics.
1. "One part of this is wrong, so therefore the whole THING is flawed."
This is frequently invoked whenever a scientific study is used as evidence. It's a classic case of denier tactics. The average human being will make a basic math error once every thirty calculations. This is even present in Math professors, who will be the first to cite this statistic when emphasizing the need to check your work. It is inevitable that a basic, correctable error will occasionally show up in even the most well researched, proofed and sourced document.
This inevitably is lunged upon with full force by those who are trying to discredit such surveys. One tiny error becomes the only thing that needs to be discussed, and any retraction or correction made when the error is pointed out becomes a sign of weakness, which must be exploited in order to call the entire document into question...
Next we have the:
2. "Ad Hominem is unfair, and YOU'RE biased"
This is called up whenever it's pointed out that a denier is... well, a DENIER.
Somehow the very fact that you are pointing out a acknowledged fact becomes a personal attack. It's a distraction from the fact that the fact is TRUE.
Everything becomes personal. It's all about how THEY feel about ME. EVERYTHING I stand for is under attack! It's a classic case of hyperbole, but somehow the side show becomes the only attraction. The facts become lost in the parry and counter of mud slinging, and the denier comes out of it just as filthy as he started. But now the mud is obscuring the original point.
And finally, the worst one of all, in my humble opinion:
3. "We need to hear all sides of the issue."
This one is the most insidious because it's the most dishonest. They DON'T want you to hear both sides of the issue. They want you to hear propaganda which will directly contradict the truth. In fact, they'd be MUCH happier if you didn't listen to the truth and instead just listened to their side of the issue.
This has been the guiding principle for the Right Wing propaganda machine since its inception. Pretend you're being "Fair and Balanced" but only give the right side of the story. Claim that other facts are in fact biased. Why are they biased? Because they don't tell YOUR version of the truth. And if they do, they actually have the gall to, well, refute it! Which just goes to prove that they aren't interested in hearing both sides of the story, just enforcing their propaganda!
Take a simple truth. "The Sky is Blue." Now, to use the standard Rethug/Denier logic, I will refute this truth.
1: The sky is red at certain times. Even purple occasionally. Did this person take into account the Northern lights which have multiple colors? Clearly this statement is flawed at its core and can be ignored completely. The sky is other colors, so stating that it is blue is unfair.
2. Mr. XXXX is claiming that because I believe in multiple colors of the sky that my faith is wrong. He is attacking all people of faith. Does Mr. XXXX have a family? Doesn't he know that by indoctrinating his children with such thoughts he is possibly a child abuser? Child Abuse is illegal, Sir! I have notified the media and CPS about Mr. XXXX's child abuse.
3. Folks, the sky isn't blue. We all know this. There are some people who want this statement to sit unchallenged. Well, that's just hooey. This needs to be explored in more depth. I mean, sure you can go outside and look at the sky yourself, but we have experts here who can inform you of the actual shade of the sky at any given time. If you went outside, you'd be buying into what the libruls WANT you to do. They're obsessed with hiding the truth and forcing you to do things THEIR way...
And now I feel the need to take a shower. I really do understand why C.S. Lewis hated writing Screwtape.