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Saturday, March 16, 2019

BEWARE THE RED HERRING: TRUMP, MANAFORT, AND THE MUELLER INVESTIGATION. pt 1.

Woods, Path, Forest, Dark, Night, Light

On Wednesday March,13,2019 Paul Manafort was sentenced to additional prison time for a gulty plea in his  WASHINGTON, D.C., CONSPIRACY CASE. Judge Amy Berman Jackson effectively added about 3 1/2 years in prison to the sentence Manafort received last week from a different judge in the Eastern District of Virginia.

"It's hard to overstate the number of lies, the amount of fraud involved ... and there is no good explanation to warrant the leniency requested," she said. "More houses than a family can enjoy; more suits than one man can wear."

As to the political atmosphere, Jackson said she could not opine about the public perception or the broader Russia imbroglio because it was not a subject of the matter at hand.

"The defendant is not public enemy No. 1, but he's not a victim either," the judge said. She said the issue of Russian conspiracy was not presented in the case and "therefore it was not resolved."

The issue of whether Manafort might have been involved with the Russians who interfered in the 2016 election is a RED HERRING, Jackson said, unconnected to his actual court case.
(The above section was taken from the NPR Article: "Paul Manafort Sentenced To 3.5 More Years In Prison; New State Indictment Announced."  By CARRIE JOHNSON AND PHILIP EWING.)



If you are not familiar with this Term, the section below is from an article I wrote that explains what it is, and how it is used; 


A LOGICAL FALLACY FROM THE "ANIMAL KINGDOM?"  

Have you ever heard two people discussing a Topic, and one makes a statement that seems to have nothing to do with what the Subject Matter?

If you have, welcome to the World of the RED HERRING.

In Hunting, a Red Herring is used to throw the Trackers off the scent of the Quarry.

The RED HERRING-  In an Argument or Debate, it is a Term or Phrase used to distract or move what is being said, off the Points or Subjects being discussed.


Examples;

Statement-  "You can see through Statistics, that a Mandatory Minimum Wage increases the profitability of local businesses."

RED HERRING Answer-  " Socialism, is an Anti- American way of life, and we need to guard against it." 



Statement-  "By having Mandatory Background Checks, we can prevent the Mentally Ill, or the convicted Felon from legally purchasing Guns." 

RED HERRING Answer-  "American Citizens need to look out for Terrorists, and must be prepared."



Statement-  "Teaching the Scientific Method is important at an early age. If we don't, the Future Researchers and Engineers will be unprepared for College Level Courses."

RED HERRING Answer-  "Science is a Gift from God.  It helps us understand the Universe he created."


From the above, we see that the responses pretty much ignore the initial statement, and instead relate information or opinions that are completely outside the area being discussed.

1 comment:

  1. Excellent observation! All should be on the look for this ubiquitous fallacy! Thanks, David

    ReplyDelete