I don’t find arguing with a leftist worth much effort but if it happens, I have a fairly easy time with it provided I don’t get emotionally involved at the inevitable end of the conversation. First, never introduce politics. Leftists will usually do that as they can’t keep their heads under control. Once they open their mouth, they nearly always make a snide “insiders comment” that is pure insult and not substantive. That is the opening to drag them through an endless list of challenges that will exhaust their shallow arguments and induce an emotional explosion. If they open with an insult of the Tea Party, just ask them questions like, Who are the Tea Partiers?, What are their positions? (you can explain the acronym), Is there an example? Why call them that (teabaggers)? Why would you refer to people who want responsible tax policy with that term—why does you refer to sexual perversion? Where did you learn this so I can learn more? Do you think the government should allow people to have opinions? What opinions should be legal?
I wear them down—doesn’t take very long, then they blow up and look like raging loon, which they are. I don’t react. I just exhaust them. Sometimes they raise some bizarre issue or event that is probably apocryphal (remember, they get made-up information from propaganda sources like CNN or MSNBC)so I just ask where I can learn more—if they cite a source I ask more questions like, didn’t that source publish a fake or deliberately wrong story? (you will always be correct because all leftist sources publish slanted and completely made up stories, for example, about a child heroin addict—NYT).
These are not stable people and I like to have fun with them. Let them open their mouths first then grab their discussion and drag them through heck with their own embarassing lack of sense.
I like your style there iacovatx. I do the same. It is the only way to go. You can really make a monkey out of them with an expertly constructed sequence of questions.
Sometimes I begin in a way that allows them to believe that I am a fellow liberal moron just to get them to really loosen up.
It’s fantastic entertainment to watch their face when you begin the subtle detour and they start to realize that they are revealing what a galactic dunce they are with their own words. Pass the gravy.