All it takes is for one stupid person to say one stupid thing, and suddenly the debate veers off course.  Take Jim Sensensbrenner.  He recently said that Milwaukee "is rapidly becoming the murder capital of the U.S.", and various Milwaukee representatives are jumping up and down refuting that claim.  The fact is that Milwaukee is nowhere near close to becoming the "murder capital of the U.S."... and so the Milwaukee leaders who brought up many facts to refute this claim are 100% correct.

But of course, Jim said a lot of other things about crime in Milwaukee:

"I have lived in this community since I was 4 years old," Sensenbrenner said. "When I was growing up, Milwaukee was one of the safest cities in the country."

Now, he said, Milwaukee has become a place with neighborhoods that people fear any time.

"People should be able to feel safe wherever they are in the city any hour of the day or night," he said.

And he's absolutely right.  Milwaukee used to be safer, and isn't nearly as safe as it once was.  But of course, because used that other exaggeration of the situation, he has given the Milwaukee leaders an easy to beat claim, and they can sidestep the larger issue.  You'll notice they haven't talked about the overall crime rate in Milwaukee compared to what it used to be.  Instead they've attacked his "murder captial" comment like white on rice.

You'd think that someone who has been in politics as long as Sensenbrenner would be a lot smarter.  It's like stupid Democrats who compare Bush to Hitler.  Their larger point is that they don't like his policies on surveillance, and think that his tact on the War on Terror is bad for the country.  Those are all valid ideas, and worthy of debate.  But as soon as they throw in a Nazi reference... everyone will go after the low hanging fruit and you'll never hear a real debate on surveillance or foreign policy.

You want real open and honest debate?  Then debate openly and honestly.  Say what you mean and mean what you say.  Don't hype up your speeches with stupid comparisons and exaggerations just to get attention.  You may get your name in the paper, but you'll never force anyone to take you seriously.  Of course, if your only objective is to get in the paper, then by all means, speak like a fool.