Mini Debater Gifts

'After you grade my report, may I have my intellectual property back?'

"We shouldn't have let him watch the debates."

"The good news is, the children in the district have strong writing skills. The bad news is, we have sustained a letter-writing campaign from the third grade."

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

Dialogue

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

"Now that's a win."

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.

The Proust of Twitter

"Your assumption that a one in a million chance event MUST be a miracle shows you drastically underestimate the total number of regularly occurring events."

"You're 5 years old now, Timmy. It's about time you retain an attorney."

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

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

"Toadstool you say? No, this is snailstool now!"

"You're using the boogeyman as an excuse to shut me out."

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

"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."

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

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

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

'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.

"How do I know God is not real? For the same reason I know people on TV can't see me."

Like Minded

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.

"It's one thing for the National Commission to comment on the quality of teaching in our schools. It's another thing entirely for you to stand up and call Mr. Costello a yo-yo."

And now, for a rebuttal.

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

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

'My opponent hates cats.'

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

Global warming debate.

"Well, by that logic no one would ever shave a clock onto a monkey."

Approved Debate Questions