Season 3 Podcast 190 The Road to Power, Machiavellian Pragmatism, Rule 39, Argumentum ad Hominem Pt I

The Road to Power, Machiavellian Pragmatism, Rules # 39: “Argumentum ad Hominem.” Pt I“Argumentum ad Hominem” is a logical fallacy that refers to “personal attack”. One commits the ad hominem fallacy when one in any way diminishes, attacks, belittles, insults, discredits, disparages, ridicules, maligns, disdains, slanders, or otherwise uses any form of character assassination. Rule 39 of Machiavellian Pragmatism is a form of argumentum at hominem. The term “vulgar” refers to the masses.“Let a prince therefore aim at living and maintaining the state, the means will always be judged honourable and praised by every one, for the vulgar is always taken by appearances and the result of things; and the world consists only of the vulgar, and the few find a place when the many have nothing to rest upon. The belief that “the world consists only of the vulgar who are taken by appearances and the results of things” is common to all people in power. They exploit that strategy to the limit.During the presidential election of 2016, Hillary Clinton referring to Trump supporters who numbered into millions of Americans as vulgar, said:“You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic—you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up.” The ‘basket of deplorables’ constitute those who disagree with the liberal agenda. Those who oppose abortion and free condoms are sexist, those who want equal rights for all are racist; those who want voter ID are xenophobic; those who fight terrorists are Islamophobic; those who oppose gay marriage are homophobic.  In other words, every conservative who opposes the liberal agenda is suffering from some sort of phobia defined by the left.A phobia is an excessive or irrational fear. Most of us know of claustrophobia, fear of enclosed places; agoraphobia, fear of open places. There is even a word for those who are afraid of Americans, Germans, French, English, Italians, etc.  A phobia can be attached to anything: fear of animals (zoophobia); fear of beards (pogonophobia); fear of fish (ichthyophobia) In extreme cases a phobia can imprison its victim.  Some will not leave their homes, some are afraid of heights, some of spiders, etc.  A phobia is considered a mental illness.If you disagree with the left on any point, it is not because you have a rational explanation, but because you have a mental illness.  To the left, all those who disagree with them have a mental illness and belong to “the basket of deplorables.” As Hillary Clinton said, “You name it.”  In other words, ‘you name it’ and we will tell you what phobia you have.   The left is saying that you are either liberal or you are mentally ill.  The liberals by claiming that conservatives hate women, hate blacks, hate Muslims, hate foreigners, hate gays, etc. are inciting riot and justifying a social war against all conservatives.  In the September 01, 2022, speech at Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, entitled Remarks by President Biden on the Continued Battle for the Soul of the nation, President Biden expands Hillary’s slanderous attack on Trump supporters. Whereas Hillary Clinton called them a basket of deplorables, President Biden call MAGA Republicans, which stands for Republians who what to Make America Great Again, “White Supremacists."American manufacturing has come alive across the Heartland, and the future will be made in America no matter what the white supremacists and the extremists say. "