An Excellent Case Study In Context (and Bill Clinton's Laugh)!

[Statistikhengst]

Take a gander at this:





That was a meeting between then-Presidents Bill Clinton (USA) and and Boris Yeltsin (Russian Federation).

It is a funny as hell - because of Clinton's laugh, but here is the complete context:




Boris Yeltsin was criticizing the media on both continents for their doom-and-gloom predictions of how the summit between these two gentlemen would go. However, either the translator got the attribution wrong or Yeltsin (who looks like he had some delicious vodka...) was sloppy in his grammar. In the short clip, there is no way to know that he had just referred to the press. The longer clip, which provides more context, proves that this was so.

So, the next time you see a small sound-bite, regardless from which of many sides of the political spectrum, remember that

1.) Things do not happen in a vacuum.
2.) Context is everything. Without context, no true discernment.

That short video, which I kind of stumbled across, really is an excellent case-study in this point.



CrusaderFrank rightwinger Derideo_Te Mertex kiwiman127 Jroc


A short list of 6 out of many, many people I think could enjoy this thread.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

I miss Clinton. He was more conservative domestically than either Bush

 

[Mad Scientist]

I miss Clinton. He was more conservative domestically than either Bush

He's a great Politician too. He has the skill to make everyone like him whether you agree with him or not.

Too bad he went to the Dark Side.

 

[occupied]

Context is ALWAYS important in a discussion, you can even say it's crucial.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Whole world owes President Yeltsin their life.

Don't read if you prefer blissful ignorance.
Norwegian rocket incident - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Context is everything. If you want to build a lie, you leave out context. Like -

'you didn't build that'
'57 states'
'what does it matter'

The practice of quoting out of context, sometimes referred to as "contextomy", is a logical fallacy and a type of false attribution in which a passage is removed from its surrounding matter in such a way as to distort its intended meaning.[1] Contextomies are stereotypically intentional, but may also occur accidentally if someone misinterprets the meaning and omits something essential to clarifying it, thinking it non-essential.


Arguments based on this fallacy typically take two forms:

1. As a straw man argument, which is frequently found in politics, it involves quoting an opponent out of context in order to misrepresent their position (typically to make it seem more simplistic or extreme) in order to make it easier to refute.
2. As an appeal to authority, it involves quoting an authority on the subject out of context, in order to misrepresent that authority as supporting some position.[2]

In either case, while quoting a person out of context can be done intentionally to advance an agenda or win an argument, it is also possible to remove essential context without the aim to mislead, through not perceiving a change in meaning or implication that may result from quoting what is perceived as the essential crux of a statement.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Pulling things out of context, or skewing them, is an age-old political trick. This is why many politicians appear so stiff and, well, trained, when they speak. It is also why they often avoid quoting anything controversial verbatim.

For instance, a murderer kills an entire family and screams, as the cops catch him, "I drank their blood, it was good".

Candidate A for public office wants to show his disgust over what happened and at a campaign event, quotes the man, saying, "and look at how low we have sunk in Podunk, Nothinkerland, when a man can kill and say "I drank their blood, it was good". Disgusting, simply disgusting"

Less than one day later, Candidate B puts out a commercial showing Candidate A saying "I drank their blood, it was good" and then with the caption: "do we really want to elect a vampire?"

This would be a classic example of deliberately taking something out of context in order to damage your opponent.

Yes, indeed, politics and electioneering can be a tangled web, indeed.