Killing The Steel Man

This month's announcement from Liberal High Command of the new regulations will be of special interest to Liberal podcasters and bloggers:

Henceforth it shall be considered a Class Three Code of Conduct violation to perform Steel Man or Steel Man-adjacent* "debates" in public.    

A "Steel Man" argument is defined as taking an ordinary, stupid, easily-debunked Conservative talking point and saying, "Well, OK, but if my opponent were 100 times smarter and not a liar and a lunatic and a bigot, here's the argument they would have made." then debating that.  This absurd ritual is performed because you're so keen to show everyone how smart and civil and according to Hoyle you are by debating a sane Conservative that you invent one (known in the trade as "Sorkening".) Except that species went extinct a long time ago, so there you are, playing chess in the park against yourself.

What you do in the privacy of your own home is, of course, your own business.  If your kink is "Steel Manning" Ayn Rand or Nick Fuentes behind closed doors, have at it.  

But when you put it out on the street, it becomes public ontological masturbation.  

Stop it.

*(Steel Man-adjacent debates can be identified by the use of phrases like "To be fair..." and "The most generous interpretation...")

Burn The Lifeboats