Last week, we had a little contest; to see which commenters could make a logical case without the use of personal attacks and insults. Notably, many of those commenters who are prolific but hopelessly petty and bitter for once showed the good sense to leave this one alone, so that nine eligible contestants posted their comments regarding the qualities of President Obama's policies and actions so far. I graded the submissions on clarity, internal logic, cited support, and breadth of perspective. The results in order of the submissions is as follows:
jennifer: Clarity A, Logic C, Support D, Breadth C, 9 points
hcddbz: Clarity A Logic A, Support A, Breadth C, 14 points
Heralder: Clarity A, Logic A, Support A, Breadth A, 16 points
steve sturm: Clarity A, Logic D, Support D, Breadth D, 8 points
Tony: Clarity D, Logic F, Support D, Breadth F, 2 points
James H: Clarity A, Logic C, Support C, Breadth A, 12 points
WildWillie: Clarity A, Logic B, Support B, Breadth B, 13 points
Stan25: Clarity A, Logic B, Support B, Breadth A, 14 points
hyperbolist: Clarity B, Logic C, Support D, Breadth D, 7 points
So from the points, fourth place goes to WildWillie, second place is a tie between hcddbz and Stan25, and first place goes to Heralder. Well done to everyone who took part, as this was a refreshing chance for people to present their case on the merits. Hope we can do this again soon, with more people partiicpating.
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Comments (14)
Im to petty and bitter to t... (Below threshold)1. Posted by 914 | May 6, 2009 10:38 AM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Im to petty and bitter to take part in anything.
1. Posted by 914 | May 6, 2009 10:38 AM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 10:38
2. Posted by Justrand
| May 6, 2009 10:41 AM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
drat...I didn't see the contest! :(
I'll join the next one...but hope a "reasonable" amount of snark is permitted! (heck, what's a blog debate w/o snark?)
2. Posted by Justrand
| May 6, 2009 10:41 AM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 10:41
3. Posted by Tony | May 6, 2009 10:43 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
No fair!!
I figured there would be many more than 9 posts, leaving my meaningless little 'comment' to go unnoticed. :grin:
Congrats to the winner(s)
3. Posted by Tony | May 6, 2009 10:43 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 10:43
4. Posted by Heralder | May 6, 2009 11:04 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Wow, thanks DJ!
I was hoping I could start a debate about the points I posted, but either people didn't disagree or it was too hard to respond without some sort of attack. :(
4. Posted by Heralder | May 6, 2009 11:04 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 11:04
5. Posted by steve sturm | May 6, 2009 11:46 AM | Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
That I didn't win is proof that DJ is consciously and deliberately biased against everything I say and ignores the Ivory snow perfection of my analysis and insight.
Oh, I didn't enter? Irrelevant.
Anyway, congrats to the winners.
5. Posted by steve sturm | May 6, 2009 11:46 AM |
Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 11:46
6. Posted by WildWillie | May 6, 2009 11:49 AM | Score: 4 (8 votes cast)
I don't know what to say. I didn't think I would place. I am speechless. I thank my agent, cast and crew and most of all my wife. Oh! Nevermind.
DJ, that post of your was a lot of fun. It was refreshing to avoid the snark. ww
6. Posted by WildWillie | May 6, 2009 11:49 AM |
Score: 4 (8 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 11:49
7. Posted by 914 | May 6, 2009 12:49 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Whats life without a snark? boring and methodical.
ha ha
7. Posted by 914 | May 6, 2009 12:49 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 12:49
8. Posted by Mac Lorry | May 6, 2009 12:50 PM | Score: 6 (8 votes cast)
Well I was thinking of entering, but the subject I picked was "Why the left uses irrelevant personal attacks and insults and why that's an effective political tactic" However, the rule of not using "personal attacks and insults" prevented citing examples and linking to left wing sites as support. Kind of funny, but if conservatives don't find an effective counter then this cheap trick is going to continue to work for the left. Find a counter and the left will have nothing left but smugness.
8. Posted by Mac Lorry | May 6, 2009 12:50 PM |
Score: 6 (8 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 12:50
9. Posted by James H | May 6, 2009 1:25 PM | Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
DJ:
A couple ways to make your contest better the next time around:
1) Narrow the topic. You can do this by presenting a narrowly tailored thesis, phrased in the positive, and challenging commenters to debate it. For example:
Or:
Since we're not a junior-high debating society, commenters should be allowed to attack or defend the thesis from any angle rather than taking a simple binary yes/no position.
Second, you should challenge your Wizbang regulars to first make their normal arguments ... and then to argue the other side.
A true debatist should be able to approach an issue from any angle ... and challenging commenters to take on an opposing position may instill in them more sympathy for the opposite side of the debate.
9. Posted by James H | May 6, 2009 1:25 PM |
Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 13:25
10. Posted by Herman | May 6, 2009 6:31 PM | Score: 2 (6 votes cast)
If WildWillie beats hyperbolist in any category, let alone all 4 categories, then the whole rating system is completely idiotic.
10. Posted by Herman | May 6, 2009 6:31 PM |
Score: 2 (6 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 18:31
11. Posted by DJ Drummond | May 6, 2009 8:30 PM | Score: 0 (4 votes cast)
... annnnnnd once again Herman demonstrates just why we needed to emphasize those people who could make their case on the facts alone.
11. Posted by DJ Drummond | May 6, 2009 8:30 PM |
Score: 0 (4 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 20:30
12. Posted by epador | May 6, 2009 10:07 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
My goal was to be the first reject and I won!
Nah Nah Nah to all my fellow liberal trolls.
;-p---
12. Posted by epador | May 6, 2009 10:07 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 22:07
13. Posted by jp2 | May 6, 2009 11:20 PM | Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
Funny, this from the site that has bi-weekly fits in which the President is called a "fascist."
13. Posted by jp2 | May 6, 2009 11:20 PM |
Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
Posted on May 6, 2009 23:20
14. Posted by rodney dill | May 7, 2009 11:28 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I know you believe you understand what you think I said; but what you fail to realize is that what you heard is not what I meant.
14. Posted by rodney dill | May 7, 2009 11:28 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on May 7, 2009 11:28