Well friends, in a previous article, I said that I was probably done talking about a civic ignoramus named Andrew Zehner, unless, of course, he updated his website. His latest article, published some time between (nothing on the website is dated) the fourth of February and the tenth of March, 2024, is blatant reality denial…
The Congenial Iconoclast is a Closeted Totalitarian
As you may have noticed by now, my favourite derisive nickname for Andrew Zehner is the Civic Ignoramus, but I don't think he's merely stupid. He is stupid, to be sure, but he is also a liar, and his stupidity simply makes him a bad liar. As I read more and more articles on his stinking shit-pile…
False Balance
There are two types of false balance: one is to present skewed versions of two opposing viewpoints to make it appear as if one side is clearly better while pretending to be unbiased (the steelman/strawman combination that I have mentioned before), and the other is to present two fundamentally incompatible positions as somehow being "two…
Debunking the Congenial Iconoclast on Citizenship
This response will be to two separate articles, and you'll see why soon enough. The Congenial Iconoclast is a collectivist idiot who just props up strawman after strawman after strawman, and at this point, since he won't respond to any critique, I almost feel bad for wailing on him... almost. I have very little sympathy…
Debunking the Congenial Iconoclast on Logic
The Congenial Iconoclast is a failed epistemologist, and I think I know why. His what-I-have-a-hard-time-calling "understanding" of logic (live version here, archived version here) is incredibly obtuse, to the point where it even confused me a couple of times. However, just because something is confusing, doesn't mean it is beyond one's understanding; it could simply…
A Res Polis ad Rem Publicam
From matters of city to matters of the people. In my own native tongue, it even rhymes: от дела города к делу народа (ot dela goroda k delu naroda). While it was always my intention to write response articles on this particular blog, I didn't expect them to be as popular as they evidently are.…
Debunking the Congenial Iconoclast, Introduction
Frauds of a feather flock together. I became aware of the Congenial Iconoclast after seeing him express admiration for the "wisdom" expressed on Bracing Views. The exact comment, left on this post (here's a reblog by Emma Olive, hopefully I'll manage to get some of William Astore's audience to read an opposing viewpoint!) under the…
The Libertarian Strawman
I have started to notice that well over half the time that people spend arguing about ideas is spent explaining what those ideas actually are, because far too many people go into these arguments prepared to knock down a strawman. I recently came across an example that is absolutely hilarious, live version here, archived version…
Sasha V's Sesquipedalian Soliloquies 