The First Clinton-Trump Debate

The Clinton-Trump debate the other night reminds me of our debating

days in San Beda College (Mendiola) Manila, Philippines. Lessons on

Principles of Logic and Argumentation and Debate were very helpful

tools as I faced the challenges of professional life - be it as a lawyer,

business executive, or other fields of endeavor.

Argumentum Contra Factum Non Valet Illatio. (Arguing against facts is an invalid inference).

This does not require further explanation. The objective is to search

for the Truth. Once the facts are determined and asserted, no party

should be able to argue against it. Contradicting the facts would be a

falsehood defying the rules of Logic.

Americans are currently witnessing a widespread array of “untruths” or

“lies” mostly perpetrated by the Republican Presidential Nominee

Donald Trump. Getting away with it during the primaries, he is now

expecting to succeed in spreading the same lies in the general

election against Clinton.

The application of this principle is reinforced by the use of FACT-CHECKING.

Ab esse ad posse valet illatio. (From existence to possibility is a

valid inference).

Clinton applied this principle effectively at her first debate with Trump.

Many (Democrats and Republicans) have been exerting efforts for the

release of Trump’s Tax Returns. But the latter refused to allow its

release because he is supposedly being audited.

In the debate, Clinton asserted that Trump is hiding something. She

asserted the following:

          “First, maybe he's not as rich as he says he is.” (Is he

really worth 10 billion dollars?)

          “Second, maybe he’s not as charitable as he claims to

be.” (Did he really donate to the poor, hungry and disabled?)

         “Third, we don't know all of his business dealings, but

we have been told through investigative reporting that he owes about

$650 million to Wall Street and foreign banks. Or maybe he doesn't

want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that

he's paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that

anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them

over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license,

and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax.”

For this Trump commented, “That makes me smart.”

Again, as Clinton stated,  “So if he's paid zero, that means zero for

troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health. And I think

probably he's not all that enthusiastic about having the rest of our

country see what the real reasons are, because it must be something

really important, even terrible, that he's trying to hide.

And the financial disclosure statements, they don't give you the tax

rate. They don't give you all the details that tax returns would. And

it just seems to me that this is something that the American people

deserve to see. And I have no reason to believe that he's ever going

to release his tax returns, because there's something he's hiding.”

For tax returns that Trump filed and were discovered, they showed that

he did not pay any federal income tax implying that it was a smart

move. For tax returns that are still unreleased, it is very possible

that no or very little taxes were also paid.

“From Existence to Possibility is a valid inference.”