General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Well, congratulations, DU... [View all]socialist_n_TN
(11,481 posts)this tactic is an OLD, OLD RW tactic. I've seen it for at least a decade.
Before DU, I used to post a lot on a political board that was open to all persuasions from neo-Nazi RW to, *well*, me.
As you can guess there were some epic battles over the policies of W as this was in the early to mid Aughts. ALL of the RWers on that board, from the neo-Nazis to the neo-liberals, used to use this tactic. They would find some minor, off hand comment in the post, a comment that had nothing to do with the main thrust OF the post, and pound it until the thread was disrupted. And they were especially disruptive if the main thrust was something that they COULD NOT REFUTE on it's own merit. Or if the main thrust of the post was a popular position.
I finally got to the point of not even trying to defend the off-hand comment being attacked, even if defensible on it's own merits. I'd just say, "Nope, not going to be distracted..." and pound the main point that was being made. The tactic would still disrupt the thread, but at least the MAIN point would be made over and over again.