Allegation - a new -ism
Having marked my return to blogging with one new word - egestatism - I thought I may as well invent another.
We already have handwaving and whataboutery which appear to be de rigeur in any scientific or political discussion. And now, may I present - roll of drums - allegationism.
Allegationism, which in the 21st century must be spelled #allegationism for some unfathomable reason to do with winning an election, is the art of generating smoke in order to draw attention to a non-existent fire. After all, there's no smoke without fire, right? On the other hand, the absence of smoke proves that the fire is very carefully hidden, doesn't it?
In Ancient Greece, people who we today might call lawyers invented the tools of logic in order to counter the rhetoric of their politico-legal opponents. Come the 21st century, fallacy is dead - long live fallacy! Ah, well - win some, lose some!
An example:
The FBI has today seized a ten-year-old laptop from Donald Trump's caterer's cousin's janitorial assistant's friend. Some folks are sayingTM that it may contain decoded copies of Mein Kampf and Mao's little red book which prove that Hilary Clinton has known for years that the illuminati have a secret UFO base inside hollow earth.
Yep! That's allegationism!
