Watching smart people yell at each other is fun

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Kevin McCarthy a "moron" following his kneejerk refusal to wear masks in Congress as called for by the Capitol physician.

This sort of name calling is both satisfying in the short term to the clearly frustrated and angry Rep. Pelosi (and to many others) and unlikely to win any argument. I often mutter comments like "moron!" when I am watching the news or reading the latest bizarre statement from, say, Colorado's representative from the 3rd district (who shall not be named). 

Cooler heads usually prevail after the initial steam is blown off, and Pelosi refused to repeat her dismissive comment later when journalists asked. That is smart.

When we try to win arguments through name calling it is termed an ad hominem appeal, which is one of the first logical fallacies most people learn. "Ad hominem" is Latin for "to the man [or person]," which makes the term self-explanatory once you know that.

I would guess that most of the arguments I attempted to win for quite a few years of my very young life would have been ad hominem attacks, and I dimly remember that the common reaction to me calling someone on the playground a name was to hear myself attacked in a similar fashion. "Dumb head" or "idiot" were often the choice of school kids who were not yet comfortable going right to the four- or seven- or twelve-letter words in public.

The reason ad hominem attacks are fallacies is that they have no connection with the facts involved in a dispute and they do not advance any sort of logical case. They are lazy, though I would be the first to agree with Ms. Pelosi on an emotional level.

In reality, many politicians (not to mention a large chunk of King Soopers customers or drivers on I-25) are worse than morons. The word "moron" means a stupid person or someone who is foolish. I would guess that most politicians, even the earlier mentioned Colorado rep, are not really stupid. Being stupid relates to limitations on a person that are beyond their control. 

Some people make arguments that have no support, no logical underpinning, and no point beyond raising hackles and causing chaos. 

Academic writers are wise to avoid those sorts of arguments. Check that. Everyone should avoid those sorts of arguments, but sometimes we just can't resist.

The frequent urge to attack opponents as "boo boo poopy heads" is a solid reason that our first draft of any piece of writing should not be our final draft. 

Feel free to blow off some steam in a draft if that helps you. But then make use of the DELETE key to get back to trying to be persuasive.