{"id":156603,"date":"2026-07-13T14:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/13\/arguments-that-embarrass-only-the-advocate\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T14:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T22:38:23","slug":"arguments-that-embarrass-only-the-advocate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/13\/arguments-that-embarrass-only-the-advocate\/","title":{"rendered":"Arguments That Embarrass Only The Advocate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I often see arguments that advocates think are persuasive.\u00a0In fact, the arguments convince me only to doubt everything the advocate says.<\/p>\n

For example:\u00a0\u201cWe had a terrible blizzard last week.\u00a0See?\u00a0I told you that global warming is a hoax!\u201d<\/p>\n

The speaker believes that he (or she) is making a point.\u00a0And the speaker is in fact making a point: \u201cI\u2019m a fool.\u201d<\/p>\n

In calculating global warming, scientists look at the instrumental record \u2014 temperature data recorded by human beings \u2014 that go back to about the year 1850.\u00a0Scientists then look at proxy records \u2014 such as tree rings, ice cores, and fossils \u2014 to push the data back by millennia or more.\u00a0This gives some information about the earth\u2019s temperature over time.<\/p>\n

So we had a blizzard last week.<\/p>\n

What exactly is that supposed to prove?<\/p>\n

(I\u2019m an equal opportunity critic.\u00a0People should not listen to conservatives who say that global warming is disproved by last week\u2019s cold snap.\u00a0Nor should people listen to liberals who say that global warming is proven by last week\u2019s heat wave.\u00a0Global warming analyzes data spanning thousands, or millions, of years.\u00a0Last week\u2019s temperature is irrelevant, and any intelligent person interested in seriously discussing the issue would never say things like this.)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a second example of an embarrassing argument:\u00a0\u201cA good guy with a gun recently stopped a criminal who otherwise would have committed a horrible crime.\u00a0See?\u00a0Guns are useful.\u00a0Only a fool would support gun control!\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course good guys with guns occasionally stop crimes.\u00a0But that\u2019s irrelevant.\u00a0The question is comparative:\u00a0Do the three times when good guys with guns stopped crimes offset the thousands of times when a spouse pulled out a handy loaded gun and blew away the other spouse?\u00a0Or when someone committed suicide become of the availability of a convenient and lethal means?<\/p>\n

Good guys with guns occasionally stop crimes.<\/p>\n

But that says essentially nothing about the need for gun control.\u00a0Don\u2019t trust people (or online conservative pundits) who insist on making this argument.\u00a0Those people are either stupid or intentionally trying to mislead you.<\/p>\n

Example number three:\u00a0\u201cAn illegal immigrant committed a heinous crime last week.\u00a0See?\u00a0I told you we have to deport millions of illegal immigrants!\u201d<\/p>\n

People commit heinous crimes.\u00a0People in the country lawfully commit those crimes; people in the country unlawfully commit those crimes.\u00a0The fact that a single individual committed a crime says nothing about what one should believe on a population-wide basis.<\/p>\n

The question is, among other things, whether undocumented aliens, as a group, proportionately commit more (or worse) crimes than citizens do.\u00a0The fact that one person committed rape or murder says nothing about the broader group.<\/p>\n

The same thing goes for:\u00a0\u201cIllegal immigrant driving 18-wheeler kills pedestrian!\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course.\u00a0It\u2019s sad, but these things happen.\u00a0The only question is whether undocumented aliens driving 18-wheelers kill pedestrians at a higher rate than citizens driving 18-wheelers do.\u00a0I have no idea whether those data exist; if they do, then look at them.\u00a0If they don\u2019t, stop embarrassing yourself by making irrelevant arguments.<\/p>\n

(President Donald Trump is a felon!<\/p>\n

Are all Republicans felons?<\/p>\n

Senator Bob Menendez is a felon!<\/p>\n

Are all Democrats felons?<\/p>\n

The example says nothing about the rule.<\/p>\n

The fact that Republicans voted for Trump after he was convicted may say something about Republicans, but that\u2019s another issue.)<\/p>\n

Finally, there\u2019s a different sort of silly argument that\u2019s been making the rounds recently.<\/p>\n

Conservative websites say: \u201cThe American public overwhelmingly supports voter identification laws.\u00a0Therefore, one should support the SAVE America Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voter ID may, or may not, be a good idea.\u00a0 It\u2019s not crazy to ask someone to show a driver\u2019s license (or some other form of official identification) at the time they vote.\u00a0That\u2019s a plausible way to reduce fraud.\u00a0Republicans should propose that sort of limited law; the law might find some popular (and Democratic) support.<\/p>\n

The SAVE America Act is not that limited law.\u00a0In addition to voter identification, the SAVE America Act requires that American citizens present a passport or a birth certificate to be allowed to register to vote.\u00a0Many people don\u2019t possess passports and don\u2019t have paper copies of their birth certificates.\u00a0It can be a pain in the neck to gather those documents.\u00a0Does society really want to impose on citizens the burden of gathering these documents before they can register to vote?<\/p>\n

Maybe society does; maybe society does not.<\/p>\n

But if someone is defending the SAVE America Act, don\u2019t let them announce that \u201cvoter ID is a good idea, which most people support, so we should pass the SAVE America Act.\u201d\u00a0If you\u2019re going to defend the SAVE America Act, then defend it.\u00a0Don\u2019t omit the heart of what\u2019s at issue.\u00a0Voter ID may be a good idea, but the SAVE America Act does much more than require voter ID.<\/p>\n

Thinking about issues is a good idea.<\/p>\n

Making silly arguments that reflect poorly on your intelligence is a less good idea.\u00a0Don\u2019t make arguments that prove only the old adage, \u201cBetter to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one\u2019s mouth and remove all doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>inhouse@abovethelaw.com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

The post Arguments That Embarrass Only The Advocate<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I often see arguments that advocates think are persuasive.\u00a0In fact, the arguments convince me only to doubt everything the advocate says.<\/p>\n

For example:\u00a0\u201cWe had a terrible blizzard last week.\u00a0See?\u00a0I told you that global warming is a hoax!\u201d<\/p>\n

The speaker believes that he (or she) is making a point.\u00a0And the speaker is in fact making a point: \u201cI\u2019m a fool.\u201d<\/p>\n

In calculating global warming, scientists look at the instrumental record \u2014 temperature data recorded by human beings \u2014 that go back to about the year 1850.\u00a0Scientists then look at proxy records \u2014 such as tree rings, ice cores, and fossils \u2014 to push the data back by millennia or more.\u00a0This gives some information about the earth\u2019s temperature over time.<\/p>\n

So we had a blizzard last week.<\/p>\n

What exactly is that supposed to prove?<\/p>\n

(I\u2019m an equal opportunity critic.\u00a0People should not listen to conservatives who say that global warming is disproved by last week\u2019s cold snap.\u00a0Nor should people listen to liberals who say that global warming is proven by last week\u2019s heat wave.\u00a0Global warming analyzes data spanning thousands, or millions, of years.\u00a0Last week\u2019s temperature is irrelevant, and any intelligent person interested in seriously discussing the issue would never say things like this.)<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a second example of an embarrassing argument:\u00a0\u201cA good guy with a gun recently stopped a criminal who otherwise would have committed a horrible crime.\u00a0See?\u00a0Guns are useful.\u00a0Only a fool would support gun control!\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course good guys with guns occasionally stop crimes.\u00a0But that\u2019s irrelevant.\u00a0The question is comparative:\u00a0Do the three times when good guys with guns stopped crimes offset the thousands of times when a spouse pulled out a handy loaded gun and blew away the other spouse?\u00a0Or when someone committed suicide become of the availability of a convenient and lethal means?<\/p>\n

Good guys with guns occasionally stop crimes.<\/p>\n

But that says essentially nothing about the need for gun control.\u00a0Don\u2019t trust people (or online conservative pundits) who insist on making this argument.\u00a0Those people are either stupid or intentionally trying to mislead you.<\/p>\n

Example number three:\u00a0\u201cAn illegal immigrant committed a heinous crime last week.\u00a0See?\u00a0I told you we have to deport millions of illegal immigrants!\u201d<\/p>\n

People commit heinous crimes.\u00a0People in the country lawfully commit those crimes; people in the country unlawfully commit those crimes.\u00a0The fact that a single individual committed a crime says nothing about what one should believe on a population-wide basis.<\/p>\n

The question is, among other things, whether undocumented aliens, as a group, proportionately commit more (or worse) crimes than citizens do.\u00a0The fact that one person committed rape or murder says nothing about the broader group.<\/p>\n

The same thing goes for:\u00a0\u201cIllegal immigrant driving 18-wheeler kills pedestrian!\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course.\u00a0It\u2019s sad, but these things happen.\u00a0The only question is whether undocumented aliens driving 18-wheelers kill pedestrians at a higher rate than citizens driving 18-wheelers do.\u00a0I have no idea whether those data exist; if they do, then look at them.\u00a0If they don\u2019t, stop embarrassing yourself by making irrelevant arguments.<\/p>\n

(President Donald Trump is a felon!<\/p>\n

Are all Republicans felons?<\/p>\n

Senator Bob Menendez is a felon!<\/p>\n

Are all Democrats felons?<\/p>\n

The example says nothing about the rule.<\/p>\n

The fact that Republicans voted for Trump after he was convicted may say something about Republicans, but that\u2019s another issue.)<\/p>\n

Finally, there\u2019s a different sort of silly argument that\u2019s been making the rounds recently.<\/p>\n

Conservative websites say: \u201cThe American public overwhelmingly supports voter identification laws.\u00a0Therefore, one should support the SAVE America Act.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voter ID may, or may not, be a good idea.\u00a0 It\u2019s not crazy to ask someone to show a driver\u2019s license (or some other form of official identification) at the time they vote.\u00a0That\u2019s a plausible way to reduce fraud.\u00a0Republicans should propose that sort of limited law; the law might find some popular (and Democratic) support.<\/p>\n

The SAVE America Act is not that limited law.\u00a0In addition to voter identification, the SAVE America Act requires that American citizens present a passport or a birth certificate to be allowed to register to vote.\u00a0Many people don\u2019t possess passports and don\u2019t have paper copies of their birth certificates.\u00a0It can be a pain in the neck to gather those documents.\u00a0Does society really want to impose on citizens the burden of gathering these documents before they can register to vote?<\/p>\n

Maybe society does; maybe society does not.<\/p>\n

But if someone is defending the SAVE America Act, don\u2019t let them announce that \u201cvoter ID is a good idea, which most people support, so we should pass the SAVE America Act.\u201d\u00a0If you\u2019re going to defend the SAVE America Act, then defend it.\u00a0Don\u2019t omit the heart of what\u2019s at issue.\u00a0Voter ID may be a good idea, but the SAVE America Act does much more than require voter ID.<\/p>\n

Thinking about issues is a good idea.<\/p>\n

Making silly arguments that reflect poorly on your intelligence is a less good idea.\u00a0Don\u2019t make arguments that prove only the old adage, \u201cBetter to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one\u2019s mouth and remove all doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Mark\u00a0Herrmann\u00a0spent 17 years as a partner at a leading international law firm and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment matters at a large international company. He is the author of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>The Curmudgeon\u2019s Guide to Practicing Law<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Drug and Device Product Liability Litigation Strategy<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(affiliate links). You can reach him by email at\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>[email\u00a0protected]<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I often see arguments that advocates think are persuasive.\u00a0In fact, the arguments convince me only to doubt everything the advocate says. For example:\u00a0\u201cWe had a terrible blizzard last week.\u00a0See?\u00a0I told you that global warming is a hoax!\u201d The speaker believes that he (or she) is making a point.\u00a0And the speaker is in fact making a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":156604,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-156603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/facepalm-fear-shame-embarrassed-embarrassment-face-to-palm-h5DAkG.jpg?fit=724%2C483&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=156603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/156603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=156603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=156603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=156603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}