Monday, August 3, 2009

Best That They Can Do

In logic there's an informal fallacy called tu quoque, meaning, roughly, "you're one too." It occurs when someone seeks to deflect the force of an allegation or claim made by an opponent by asserting that the opponent or the opponent's allies are just as bad. The irrelevance of the reply is a tacit admission that the accused person, or his supporters, really has no defense against the charges. I thought of this while watching the video of Michelle Malkin's recent appearance on The View.

Ms Malkin has written a book on the extensive corruption in the Obama administration (Culture of Corruption) which won her an invitation to appear on the show. It was amusing that during her six or seven minute segment none of the liberals among the ladies at the table chose to defend the President or his administration against her indictments. Instead they were reduced to protesting that, well, the Bush administration was corrupt too, you know:

If this is the best defense the President's friends can mount against the very serious accusations Malkin amasses in her book then Mr. Obama is in quite a pickle.

Thanks to Hot Air for the tip.

RLC