The New Exchange

You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?



8/14/2017 5:53 am  #1


The Moral Equivalence Fallacy

When did we enter a time when some Americans can offer criticism of nazis and white supremacists only if it is immediately tempered by the "balance" of criticism of other groups?

Many Republicans, like Ronald Reagan for instance, had no problem saying "I condemn Nazis. PERIOD. FULL STOP." 

 Nazis and white supremacists have become a constituency, that the Trumpers need to take care not to offend.
The veil has been lifted.



Violent neo-nazis and white Supremacists terrorize an American City, and the President says this:
“We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence. On many sides.”

Later the White House, in an email condemned “white supremacists” AND “all extremist groups.”

Homeland Security spokesman Tm Bossert said, "I condemn white supremacists and racists and white Nazi groups and all the other groups that espouse this kind of hatred and exclusion.”

VP Mike Pence did manage to condemn nazis, 
“We have no tolerance for hate and violence, white supremacists or neo-Nazis or the KKK,”
But, then Pence immediately changed gears.
“The president also made clear that behavior by others of different militant perspectives are also unacceptable in our political debate and discourse,”


I have a question:

When did we enter a time when some  Americans can offer criticism of nazis and white supremacists only if it is immediately tempered by the "balance" of criticism of other groups?

Everyone here already condemns violence. 
Why can't you just stand up and condemn the Nazis, Period. Full stop?

By combining them with other groups you are establishing a false equivalence.You are letting nazis off the hook by suggesting that they aren't any worse than anybody else.

This is a Moral equivalence Fallacy. And it isn't new.

Moral equivalence is a form of equivocation often used in political debates. It seeks to draw comparisons between different, even unrelated things, to make a point that one is just as bad as the other or just as good as the other. Drawing a moral equivalence in this way is an informal fallacy, a special case of False equivalence.

A common manifestation of this fallacy is a claim, often made for ideological motives, that both sides are equally to blame for a war or other conflict. 

I am reminded that suggesting a moral equivalence between a number of acts carried out by the Allies during the Second World War and the deeds of the Nazis, especially the Final Solution is a common strategy employed by apologists for the Nazis.  Commonly cited as examples are the Allies' aerial destruction of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Hamburg and Dresden, the systematic murder and rape of East Germans by the Red Army, etc.


 

Last edited by Goose (8/14/2017 7:28 am)


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
 

8/14/2017 7:52 am  #2


Re: The Moral Equivalence Fallacy

Trump is such a hypocrite. I believe he once said that if a President cannot call out a terrorist group by name then he isn't fit to be President. Well, IF the shoe fits .... 


"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
 
 

8/14/2017 8:19 am  #3


Re: The Moral Equivalence Fallacy

There is speculation that White House advisors will succeed in dragging Donald Trump out before cameras today to finally denounce nazis and white supremacists.

But, it's too late.
Heather Heyer has been dead for days.
Nazis succeeded in terrorizing and American city.

Pence, Ivanka, and Sessions have scrambled to put out their own statements to make it seem like the President cares, while he has refused to call them out by name. This is a guy who doesn't hesitate to trash morning talk show hosts, and he's afraid to offend nazis?

The moment has passed.
I don't give a damn what the President says today.


Last edited by Goose (8/14/2017 8:25 am)


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
     Thread Starter
 

8/14/2017 8:34 am  #4


Re: The Moral Equivalence Fallacy

Goose wrote:

There is speculation that White House advisors will succeed in dragging Donald Trump out before cameras today to finally denounce nazis and white supremacists.

But, it's too late.
Heather Heyer has been dead for days.
Nazis succeeded in terrorizing and American city.

Pence, Ivanka, and Sessions have scrambled to put out their own statements to make it seem like the President cares, while he has refused to call them out by name. This is a guy who doesn't hesitate to trash morning talk show hosts, and he's afraid to offend nazis?

The moment has passed.
I don't give a damn what the President says today.


I agree.  

The moment has passed.  He is tone deaf. 

 


"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
 
 

8/14/2017 9:44 am  #5


Re: The Moral Equivalence Fallacy

He built a campaign around fear and hate.  He never left 'campaign mode' and I'm guessing he'll never move past that, and as president, he has to depend on people around him to 'explain what he means' after an off-the-wall tweet or a speech. 

 

8/14/2017 2:29 pm  #6


Re: The Moral Equivalence Fallacy

This Just In !

Donald Trump says that Racism is bad. Yep, watched him on the TV myself.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think that Trump deserves no credit for being dragged kicking and screaming before cameras to say what any decent person would have said on Saturday.


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
     Thread Starter
 

8/14/2017 2:32 pm  #7


Re: The Moral Equivalence Fallacy

You white nationalists should not despair.
Trump may have said one thing about bigotry,,,,,,but he's considering pardoning Sheriff Arpaio.
Wink, wink.


We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists. 
     Thread Starter
 

Board footera

 

Powered by Boardhost. Create a Free Forum