So if someone tells a lie about me, I should respond by saying the opposite, whether it's true or not?
I've watched Fox News, and I've debated with its viewers. Saying the same thing over and over again does nothing. Answer a question with a different question and you might get the person outside of his position points where he has no answer written on the cuff of his shirt.
"You can change!"
"No, I can't."
"Yes, you can!"
[strike]"No, I can't"[/strike]"OK, so then why should I?"
"What?"
"Why should I change? What is to be gained?"
"It's wrong."
"How is it wrong?"
"The Bible says so."
"I don't believe that. What else have you got?"
"It's unnatural."
"It isn't. It exists in nature, in other animals, in preliterate societies. It's not unnatural."
"It's wrong!"
"Says you. I asked why should I change? I'm perfectly happy."
"You just think you're happy."
"No, I'm pretty sure I'm happy; you're the one who's not happy. You change."
Et cetera. That's how debates operate, you answer a question and ask a follow-up question. But debating on Fox isn't going to work, even if you do keep it short, because the editors make damned sure that only the position they wish to espouse, the position already comfortable to their audience, is going to come out on top. You notice on the few shows where they even pretend to have "balance," the liberal/left-leaning side is always presented in a poor light.
Look at the old stand-by Hannity and Colmes, where nothing that came out of Colmes' ugly clown mouth made any sense or sounded at all convincing, while Hannity's upstanding handsome-but-not-too-handsome Irish American face and authoritative newscaster's voice always carried every point. Eventually the simply threw out Colmes as a distraction from the main point.
On every "debate" they have on Fox News, there is a clear position from the outset, and the dissenters are carefully chosen for their stupidity and loopiness, and then shouted down if they say anything remotely useful or persuasive. It's a well-rehearsed side-show with about as much reality as professional wrestling.
Fox is what it is; but we don't have to be what it is. We shouldn't be what it is.
How do you defeat a demagogue? By becoming a louder demagogue? It won't work if your message isn't what people already want to believe. No, you have to do it by either slaughtering them all, or else by repeating the truth, with all its multifaceted and complicated facts, repeated and repeated and repeated. You also respond with questions. Why? Can you prove what you say? I can prove what I say. What else have you got?
There have always been demagogues, and they have always done damage. The only time that demagogues don't reign is when there are strong leaders with high ideals who will lead people away from them. We need to find those leaders and give them a forum... and not descend into the shouting match.
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