Why can't anyone answer a question with a Yes or No...

[mooseracing]

In the last Prez debate Brokaw asked both canidates to answer either yes or no, both went into a long speech and never answered the question. It seems like that in all politics but thats not what I am asking.

It seems like if you ask someone a question, whether a parts salesman, an employee about a job they did, or a freind in general if they did something no one can seem to make a yes or no answer.

Yet if you go into a courtroom it's yes or no, no explaining yourself. I see it as people trying to blend the lines or trying to somehow blow off as much responability as they can by adding some piss poor excuse into their answer.

The yes I did this or Yes I support this but, is getting real old. Are people that scared that their answer is going to be incorrect or step on someones toes?

 

[nageov3t]

nuance, in theory, matters.

of course, on the flip side, running your trap for sixty seconds without saying a thing does not, but it seems to be the single most important skill for a politician to have because people don't care about nuance.

 

[StageLeft]

The only one who can is Biden. He was very candid and direct during his debate. He was approaching flawless in the entire thing, actually. Biden :heart:

 

[Jaskalas]

Originally posted by: mooseracing
Topic: Why can't anyone answer a question with a Yes or No...

Question: Do you support sending troops to Iraq?

No = OMFG, he sleeps with terrorists!
Yes = OMFG, he supports killing babies!

It's called context. If you simply answer yes or no then your lack of explanation will be filled in with your opponents explaining how evil you are.

 

[Robor]

I thought Biden did great against Palin as well. He did wander a bit but nowhere near the level of Palin's outright refusal to discuss a topic.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: mooseracing
In the last Prez debate Brokaw asked both canidates to answer either yes or no, both went into a long speech and never answered the question.

They both did answer the question, actually, it was one of the few they did answer. "Maybe" is an answer even if you don't like it. But "is russia an evil empire?" is not a question anyone in the position of becoming president should ever answer yes or no.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: Jaskalas

Originally posted by: mooseracing
Topic: Why can't anyone answer a question with a Yes or No...

Question: Do you support sending troops to Iraq?

No = OMFG, he sleeps with terrorists!
Yes = OMFG, he supports killing babies!

It's called context. If you simply answer yes or no then your lack of explanation will be filled in with your opponents explaining how evil you are.

The opponents will do that regardless. If you answer the question at hand, you will gain points in my book. By not answering the question you are telling me you don't know (or want us to know) what your stance really is. They are trying to win all sides, and be the perfect option for everybody. Stop it. Give me your stance. Answer the question at hand.

 

[MikeyLSU]

if you were forced to answer a question with a yes or no it would give too much influence to the moderator.

For instance.

"Senetor Obama, yes or no, do you support the killing of unborn babies?"

"Senetor McCain, yes or no, do you support the killing of civilians in Iraq?"

Very extreme, and probably didn't pick questions very well but you get the point, if you can't explain your answer it will be misunderstood.

 

[udneekgnim]

it is not within their interest the explicitly say yes or no

 

[daveymark]

Do you still beat your wife? yes or no please.

 

[jonks]

Originally posted by: daveymark
Do you still beat your wife? yes or no please.

no, but i do call her a **** every now and then

 

[Thump553]

I thought they both answered the question.

I thought McCain's answer was his best of the evening. He said maybe, then explained why answering yes would trigger Cold War II and no would let Russia off the hook, whereas maybe keeps the situation fluid depending on future events. Frankly, it was of the rare times when McCain shows himself to actually think rather than parrot catch phrases or his partially thought out brainstorm of the day.

 

[Craig234]

Some questions are more accurately answered with a longer answer than 'yes' or 'no'.

Other times, long answers are used to disguise what would more accurately be yes or no.

The wife beating question above is a classic, because the proper answer, if you never did, involves challenging the underlying assumption in the question.

But if McCain were asked, does Obama's tax plan cut taxes more for the middle class than his plan, the correct answer is 'yes', but McCain would probably not want to just say 'yes'.

 

[sandorski]

The question asked was too sensitive for a Yes/No answer. Kinda like Cads recent thread asking whether people will accept the Election Results regardless. Who knows WTF is going to happen by the time it's done?

 

[ProfJohn]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
The only one who can is Biden. He was very candid and direct during his debate. He was approaching flawless in the entire thing, actually. Biden :heart:

Flawless?? He was lying through his ass half the time.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: Skoorb
The only one who can is Biden. He was very candid and direct during his debate. He was approaching flawless in the entire thing, actually. Biden :heart:

Flawless?? He was lying through his ass half the time.

Sure, but otherwise he was flawless!

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: Craig234

But if McCain were asked, does Obama's tax plan cut taxes more for the middle class than his plan, the correct answer is 'yes', but McCain would probably not want to just say 'yes'.

Too bad the plan isn't a tax cut though. It's a tax credit to the middle class while having one of the highest ever tax increases on the wealthy.




I would like to be able to explain myself in a murder case better than yes or no, but if the judge ask's please answer with yes or no I don't have a choice. Even if I did murder the guy and the cause was my vehicle exploding while he was in it.

Either canidate didn't really respect Brokaw, they just talked over him and ignored the lights that were basically saying shut the hell up already.

 

[Farang]

It was a dumb question. "Evil empire" can mean a million different things to a million different people so how is any leader supposed to answer that yes or no.

 

[JS80]

Yes or no questions usually are troll bait questions.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: JS80
Yes or no questions usually are troll bait questions.

Yes

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: mooseracing
The yes I did this or Yes I support this but, is getting real old. Are people that scared that their answer is going to be incorrect or step on someones toes?

Good thread.

On one hand, I see your point, but on the other hand, leaving it as "yes" or "no" is quite dangerous for a politician. Take Obama's nay vote on troop funding. If you were to believe McCain, Obama simply voted no and left it at that. However, as Obama pointed out in the first (and second, actually) debate, McCain also had a nay vote. Each of their nay votes were placed because of the issue of the withdrawl time line. It's not that either candidate wanted to screw over the troops, but they didn't want to pass the bill without other conditions.

In this scenario, a simple "yes" or "no" when responding to the question would have left the important parts out.

Of course, there's other times when they tip-toe around the answer and never say a damn word.

Meh.

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: Robor
I thought Biden did great against Palin as well. He did wander a bit but nowhere near the level of Palin's outright refusal to discuss a topic.

I have to agree. I ask again, how did Biden lose in the primaries?

 

[Budmantom]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: ProfJohn

Originally posted by: Skoorb
The only one who can is Biden. He was very candid and direct during his debate. He was approaching flawless in the entire thing, actually. Biden :heart:

Flawless?? He was lying through his ass half the time.

Sure, but otherwise he was flawless!

Skoorb likes style not substance.

 

[mooseracing]

Originally posted by: m1ldslide1

Originally posted by: JS80
Yes or no questions usually are troll bait questions.

Yes

So you would agree that is what are court system is including Judges and Lawyers?

 

[idiotekniQues]

both candidates missed opportunities to answer with a simple yes or no but the Brokaw questions i think you are referencing was retarded.

is russia evil, yes or no

i mean hello. that is one of the dumbest yes or no questions i have ever heard.