Digital Debaters Gifts

The Man on the Street vs. The Man on the Forum

"We broke up. I wanted a proprietary platform - she wanted open source."

"They were my friends until I raised a controversial issue on social media."

A Late Endorsement for Net Neutrality

Coffee, jerk! What's the matter? Sadie discovered flaming, i.e.: Hostile and insulting interaction among internet users. It's been incredible. Who can sleep when you've got endless opportunity to make people feel like crud about themselves?! I also need prescription drugs and steroids. Flaming out.

"I'm, like, really really upset about the, like, current situation in the Middle East...."

Humpty Dumpty sat on a paywall.

"O.K., O.K., people - we're not workshopping these, they're already set in stone."

Dialogue

"Strawman argument terrorises conversation... News at eleven."

Changing Minds

"Now that's a win."

"No, kid, we don't call these 'attachment icons.' We call them paperclips."

The Proust of Twitter

My new laptop is nicer than your new laptop. I'm not going to get into a competition about whose new laptop is nicer. The one I replaced is nicer than the one you replaced. Stop it.

"Mainstream? Who's to say what's mainstream?"

'Don't bite. They're trolling again.'

"He'll never win this negotiation. He's saddled with numbers...but we have anecdotes."

Oz Debating Society. You can't refute everything I say just by call it a "straw man" argument.

"I had a great weekend... My Grandpa talked about the war again and my Dad about his most daring facebook comments!"

"Honey, come quick! This guy in the comments section just solved the Middle East crisis."

"On the contrary, Bosworth, it's YOU who has lost all perspective."

'We're beta testing Goo-Goo Glass.'

"Ever notice how grateful people are when you present them with facts contrary to their beliefs?"

The Church of DanaeDanaeism: 'And let such sacrilege go uncontested? Never! I demand equal time for alternate explanations of things.'

'I'm now going to open the floor to questions.'

Debating Society. I can accept that money is speech as long as we can agree that some spending is like yelling fire in a theater.

A bunch of global warming skeptics want to join eco club. It's a school organization. You have to let them in. But they just want to harass us with selective facts! Today: Eco club. So? Debate is good. You have :An Inconvenient Truth" to counter their arguments. Oh. Great. Now we'll have to read it.

Like Minded

And now, for a rebuttal.

'I can watch T.V. shows on the computer, so who needs a TV?'

If You Can't Beat Them

Today on the Ask Sadie Show, we'll be addressing one single topic: Wondering. In my day, when a body said I wonder why dust bunnies are called dust bunnies, it led to all sorts of delightful speculation. We could while away hours debating whether it was a marketing ploy by big broom ... or whether it dated back to Napoleon, who had a fetish for dirty rabbits. And if we were lucky, opinions could get so heated that fisticuffs would ensue. Wondering is just one of many lovely human experiences utt

I can't keep up, Randy. What happened, little buddy? You know how I created a hate-bot to automate my back you up in online arguments business? Don't tell me: The Russian troll farms beat you to it. No. My hate-bot became sentient and created an even snarkier hate-bot. Mankind is officially obsolete. For an extra $1, the HB-1000 will throw in racism and misogyny.

Nearly a third of the earth's life-forms have gone extinct. Cut! Stop with all the facts. This is debate club! But we're using a cable tv talk show format! What should I say? Unsupported opinions