Orientation

One of the things that plagues good discourse these days is the ad. hominem fallacy.  Byron Roth describes the ad. hominem fallacy as "a well known rhetorical device in which the logic of the argument is discounted by impugning the motives or the character of the person making the argument.  It is useful as a debating trick, but it often leads to faulty judgement."
If a conversant disagrees with you or your way of thinking, you are a racist, a corporate tool, or something so similarly evil as to rob you of any credibility whatsoever.
They were only slightly more direct during the Inquisition, but the outcomes are the same.
For a writer who has been characterized as everything from "an apologist for Corporate America," to a "union stooge," I am not necessarily partisan.  I was born of Labor/Liberal/FDR worshipping/Democrats, but I have evolved to my own intellectual space.
I have also worked since I was 12 years old.  I began by delivering the Detroit Free Press at four in the morning--everyday--rain, sleet, freezing rain, snow, and whatever else can be cooked up.
In the best of times, we were lower Middle Class.  My younger brother says, "poor, but not destitute".  We were taught to excel in school, work hard, and save for college.  Our parents called themselves "children of the Depression" and modeled certain behaviors about savings and minimizing waste, and pursuing other frugalities of life.
So, don't expect me to confine my political bombardment to one party or another, to me, they're both dysfunctional.  And I enjoy being an equal opportunity offender.  Nobody and nothing is safe fgrom question or bombardment in these columns.