Assume Nothing
GlobalNewscast
  Be judicious in what you assume to be functionally operative in your opponent's mind.
 
Many people assume that they can win and close a debate by proclaiming such concepts as "the Founding Fathers did not intend for that"... or "the US Constitution does not permit such action"... or "the US Constitution guarantees such right or liberty of action".
People who insist upon invoking conceptually-based terminology that is in itself dependent upon their foes' understanding and acceptance of basic concepts will lose their arguments and their cause.
Yes, people who invoke such concepts as the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Founding Fathers, and other values intrinsic in Western Civilization are often correct. But they are not correct in the minds of their opponents because their opponents fail to understand and accept these artifacts as basic tenants upon which all else derives.

Wise debaters who are driven to win in civil debate should acknowledge that a great portion of today's opposition has been educated in America's public school system... or less, often in other countries. Therefore many high concepts and principles are not known or accepted as fundamentally important to the prosperity and freedom that they blindly enjoy. They have been taught that it is their right to be free and to have whatever it may be that they deem needed. To them, to have to earn a desired object is to be deprived of their right to that object.
Today's opposition listens to demagogue, ideologue politicians who have no regard for the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, or other universally endowed rights. Nancy Pelosi, when asked whether the healthcare legislation was constitutional, answered honestly when she replied, "Are you kidding? Are you kidding?"

Wise people desiring liberty, rights, and progress choose to understand concepts, study historic details, and consider alternatives. Often wise people realize that the best long term outcomes may be attained by applying empirically proven principles inherent in the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Western Civilization.
Assume to your detriment when debating with today's opposition. Understand that today's opposition is not concerned with concepts such as the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or Founding Fathers. Today's opposition is only concerned with short term grievances, receiving from a massive government, and enjoying the redistribution of wealth from those who work and are self reliant.
Rather than assuming the opposition understands and is willing to live by high concepts, assume that acceptance of, and adherence to those concepts and the civil nature they instill do not exist. Then use other tools to convince the opposition why its way is not the productive pathway to long term prosperity. Then stop assuming that the opposition comprehends or cares about long term prosperity.

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