> yes. I looked it up. Thanks.(though I don't agree it can be a succesful > rhetorical technique.) It can be if people aren't paying attention to the facts. And if your audience is too lazy to do their own research but simply trusts that you're presenting the facts of your opponent's argument . . . It's of limited use in an argument with informed people. Most people aren't all that informed on whatever the topic happens to be, though. -- Regret, by definition, comes too late; Say what you mean. Bear witness. Iterate. --John M. Ford, "Against Entropy"