This is almost amusing. According to an official Air Force training document regarding Equal Opportunity incidents (see scribd/doc/162321199/2161-docs for the full text), Bloombergs group, Moms Demand Action, qualifies as an extremist group! Per pages 39-40, extremists habitually engage in the following behaviors: a. Character assassination Extremists often attack the character of an opponent rather than deal with the facts or issues raised. They will question motives, qualifications, past associations, alleged values, personality, looks, and mental health as a diversion from the issues under consideration. b. Name calling and labeling Extremists are quick to resort to taunts (e.g., pervert, racist, and crackpot) to label and condemn opponents and to divert others from listening to their arguments. c. Irresponsive sweeping generalizations Extremists tend to make sweeping claims or judgments with little to no evidence,often confusing similarity with sameness. That is, they assume that because two or more things are alike in some respects that they are alike in all respects. d. Inadequate proof behind assertions Extremists tend to be very fuzzy about what constitutes proof for their assertions and tend to get caught up in logical fallacies where they assume that a prior event explains a subsequent occurrence simply because of their before-and-after relationship. They tend to project wished-for conclusions and exaggerate the significance of information that confirms their prejudices and discredit or ignore information that contradicts them. e. Tendency to view opponents and critics as essentially evil Extremists feel that their opponents hold differing views because they are bad, immoral, dishonest, hateful, cruel, prejudiced, etc. and not merely because they simply disagree, see matters differently, or are mistaken. f. Dualism worldview Extremists tend to see the world in terms of absolute good and evil, for them or against them, with no middle ground or intermediate position. All issues are ultimately moral issues of right and wrong, good or bad, with the right and good positions coinciding with their interests. Their slogan is often “Those who are not with me are against me.” g. Tendency to argue by intimidation Extremists tend to frame their arguments in such a way as to intimidate others into accepting their premises and conclusions. To disagree with them is to ally oneself with the devil or to give aid and comfort to the enemy. They tend to be very judgmental and moralizing, allowing them to define the parameters of the debate by keeping their opponents on the defensive. h. Use of slogans, buzzwords, and thought-stopping clichés For many extremists, shortcuts in thinking and in reasoning matters out seem necessary to avoid troublesome facts and compelling counterarguments. Simple slogans substitute for more complex abstractions. i. Assumption of moral superiority over others The most obvious assumptions are claims of racial or ethnic superiority—a master race. Less obvious are claims of ennoblement because of alleged victimhood, aspecial relationship with God, or membership in a special or elite class and a kind of aloof high-minded snobbishness that accrues because of the weightiness of their preoccupations, their altruism, and their willingness to sacrifice themselves (and others) to their cause. j. Doomsday thinking Extremists often predict dire or catastrophic consequences from a situation or from afailure to follow a specific course, and they tend to exhibit a kind of crisis-mindedness. It can be a Communist takeover, a Nazi revival, nuclear war, earthquakes, floods, or the wrath of God. Whatever it is, it is just around the corner unless we follow their program and listen to their special insight and wisdom, to which only the truly enlightened have access. For extremists, any setback or defeat is the beginning of the end.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 17:55:27 +0000
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