Whataboutery

Submitted by Said (Jordan), Jun 7, 2010 at 06:47

Your comments Mr (Mrs?) Raisman are usually classified under the category of "Whataboutery". Basically, when one doesn't have an argument against what another is saying, one spuriously starts pointing to other, unrelated events to divert attention away from the argument at hand, usually with nefarious accusation and insinuations concerning the person's moral character. Please focus on the comments being made rather than creating a standard that you expect others to follow if you wish their comments to be respected.

Otherwise each individual would have write a comprehensive history book with their position on every major and minor recorded historical event. Considering that it would take many of us far too long to accomplish, and would need to be constantly updated, the human race would soon fall to ruin and we'd have to learn to enjoy the taste of paper. This is naturally ignoring the time it would take for us to read each others' comprehensive positions on historical events - which would have to precede us even starting a conversation of any sort.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".