logic

When I was an undergraduate, I took a course in logic and rhetoric as part of my degree. I was a Philosophy major at the time. As I think back over those four years, this was the most useful instruction I was to receive then. Since then,   I kept the text on Rhetoric and read it many times over years. Folks, especially politicians, use false syllogisms, faulty logic, and twist the meaning of words to appeal to the emotions of others.

Here is a recent example:   Newt Gingrich said "Morning After Abortion Pill." 

He subtly changes the pill that merely prevents the implantation of the fertilized egg, into a an "unborn" child. Suddenly, the Morning After Pill becomes a method of abortion. 

Even the notion of an "unborn" person is absurd.    

Logical fallacies are statements that appear to be logical, use the forms of logic, but improperly.

Here are two good sites covering many of the common types:  http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/ 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

Being an election year, there will be many opportunities to catch politicians using these fallacies to make their arguments. With only a little practice I have been able to spot the improper use to logic quickly. Simply making a statement does not make it true. These statements can be intentional or just the results of stupidity.

a simple syllogism:

Socrates is a man                                     p>q

All men are mortal                                  q>r

therefore, Socrates is mortal                p>r

or Woody Allen's version

Socrates is a man                                     p>q

All men are mortal                                  q>r

therefore, All men are Socrates           q>p

Other common fallacies are: Attacks against the man (he can't be right because he is gay), Appeal to Authority (being an authority does not make one opinion correct), and one of my favorites, the Slippery Slope (taking a fact to it's illogical conclusion, if we legalize marijuana, everyone will be using it).

One of my professors demonstrated that learning symbolic logic resulted in a rise in IQ. The only thing we can bring to the world is reason and truth and expose the false use of questionable facts. So sharpen your logical skills and see through the crazy-assed things that politicians assert.