In a published piece about Scott Adams (Dilbert cartoon artist, Daily Iberian Opinion Page, March 14, 2023), the author suggested that his defenders would claim the “attack the messenger” defense.

And right they should since that very piece was an ATTACK THE MESSENGER if ever I saw one.

The words one uses to state a position cannot be refuted, they are verifiable, but the assigned motivation(s) are perhaps true or not.

Respected critics’ conclusions are followed by many and critics with an agenda tend to project THEIR positions, mostly a bit skewed, mostly to their followers. This is the way this works and always has and will most likely continue to be.

Am I too just as guilty? Can you guess where a piece is headed just by reading the author’s name? Does not the newspaper itself carry a perceived reputation of either Liberal OR Conservative?

In psychology, this is called ‘reinforcement’ or ‘preach to the choir’ or ‘yeah you right!’. Methinks (uh oh) that human nature is behind all this … after all it is the creatures we call humans who write and read and interpret Opinion pieces … and ATTACK those who convey theirs openly.

Richard Phillips

New Iberia