I've seen a number of these sort of "ad hominem" and personal partisan attacks in recent weeks, and frankly I am disgusted by it.
As I understand it, a personal attack on any individual is a negative and derogatory observation made without offering reasoning or justification for the attack. For example, if I say "John Boehner is a lying bag of filth. The Republican party is a gang of hypocrites." That's clearly a personal attack. But if I say "John Boehner is a big liar because he says that the ACA will increase the long term deficit when in fact it will decrease it," well at least I have offered a reason and position which can then be actually debated on it's merits (I don't claim to know this is true, I'm simply using it as an example).
In a nutshell, my point is this: it's okay to have strong, negative views about a person or political party and express those views, but I think it's only right that you offer a solid and concrete reason for why you have that belief. Because otherwise, the statement "John Boehner is a lying bag of filth" is just a plain, blatant personal attack. And I think that's what offends me the most.
I've seen a number of threads recently where individuals made purely personal attacks in thread titles, and the mods here in P&N did nothing to change those titles. I won't name names because that's not what this is about. This thread isn't about retribution on any one person, it's about doing what's right in P&N and I feel like that's keeping personal attacks out of the thread title.
So what do you guys think about this? I would *hope* that I'm right, but I don't know. Maybe I completely whiffed and personal attacks in the title are a good idea. I'd like more feedback so I know where people stand.
As I understand it, a personal attack on any individual is a negative and derogatory observation made without offering reasoning or justification for the attack. For example, if I say "John Boehner is a lying bag of filth. The Republican party is a gang of hypocrites." That's clearly a personal attack. But if I say "John Boehner is a big liar because he says that the ACA will increase the long term deficit when in fact it will decrease it," well at least I have offered a reason and position which can then be actually debated on it's merits (I don't claim to know this is true, I'm simply using it as an example).
In a nutshell, my point is this: it's okay to have strong, negative views about a person or political party and express those views, but I think it's only right that you offer a solid and concrete reason for why you have that belief. Because otherwise, the statement "John Boehner is a lying bag of filth" is just a plain, blatant personal attack. And I think that's what offends me the most.
I've seen a number of threads recently where individuals made purely personal attacks in thread titles, and the mods here in P&N did nothing to change those titles. I won't name names because that's not what this is about. This thread isn't about retribution on any one person, it's about doing what's right in P&N and I feel like that's keeping personal attacks out of the thread title.
So what do you guys think about this? I would *hope* that I'm right, but I don't know. Maybe I completely whiffed and personal attacks in the title are a good idea. I'd like more feedback so I know where people stand.
Last edited:
Facebook
Twitter