Illiterate uses of the phrase "ad hominem"

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

Personal attacks are not ad hominem arguments.  Ad hominem arguments are
a logical fallacy. To illustrate:

John believes X. X is wholly false. Anyone who believes it is an
asshole. John is an asshole. This is a personal attack but it is NOT an
ad hominem argument.

John is an asshole. John believes X. Therefore X is false.

That is an ad hominem argument. And it is fallacious. Anyone who uses
such an argument is a stupid asshole.

John supports X. John profits from X. Therefore X is false. That is  a
mixture. It is a false argument re X but a reasonable suggestion for
exploring X further.

Assholes like to use fancy Latin terms that they don't understand the
meaning of.

Leigh's arguments are not worth attacking. Let them lie and stink.

Carrol