Heuristics when arguing --

Adam Serwer, writing in the American Prospect -- "It's a good rule of thumb that anyone responding to a criticism by accusing someone else of enforcing 'political correctness' is factually incorrect. That's because if the actual facts of the criticism were in dispute, they'd dispute them."

from Scripting News.

There's an old saying among trial lawyers: When the facts are against you, argue the law. When the law is against you, argue the facts. When both the facts and law are against you, argue louder.