Logic 101

What do the teachers’ union, the gun lobby, the pro-marijuana activists, the anti-GMO activists, the anti-gay crusaders, and the anti-fracking activists have in common?  Apparently, none of them ever took, let alone passed, logic 101.  Now, that’s a pretty diverse group, and I am actually sympathetic to some of them.  But their arguments in support of their causes are consistently, astoundingly terrible.  Because I have a stab of annoyance every time I hear one of these bad arguments (especially from the people that I’m sympathetic to), I figured I’d use this space to vent that frustration.  My goal isn’t to support one side or the other, although my sympathies will often be obvious.  My goal is just to point out the flaws in reasoning and maybe even to suggest ways of making the arguments better.