Fallacies in Political Arguments

Recently I attended the Design & Verification Conference (DVCon) in San Jose, CA. At the conference, I encountered a long time acquaintance, in fact a person who years ago had hired me at a previous employer. This person is well known in the EDA as one of the freelance journalists covering the industry. Our discussion quickly turned to politics and it very quickly became obvious we were in complete disagreement. The result of the discussion was quite disappointing to me as I lost all respect that I once had for this person.

Why did I lose my respect? Regardless of his intellect and regardless of his education and past accomplishments, this person failed to argue his political position logically and persuasively. Instead, he resorted to a collection of logical fallacies in the following order:

Example 1: I have a business degree. I know your education and you do not.
Fallacy: Appeal to authority.
Instead of arguing the logical truth of his position, he attempted to assert their truth through the fact that by attending some class at some time in the past that led to the awarding of some degree that that somehow made his position true and mine false.
Factual Aside: While this person certainly knew that I have a BS and MS in Computer Science as that information was relevant to him hiring me, he has no knowledge of the Finance, Economics, Philosophy and other courses I have taken in my life nor the extent or depth of my independent reading and study in any of these areas.

Example 2: You've been listening to Rush Limbaugh.
Fallacy: Guilt by association.
Instead of arguing based on the falsity or logical contradiction of my position, he attempted to discredit them by implying that my ideas were the same or similar to those of someone else (Rush Limbaugh in this case) that at least some people despise.
Factual Aside: I never once mentioned Rush Limbaugh in the conversation. The positions I presented and defended I have held for about 30 years, long before I had ever heard of Rush Limbaugh. The greatest influence in the development of my positions is Ayn Rand, not Rush Limbaugh. Anyone who knows both Rand and Limbaugh knows that there are areas of agreement but that there are also areas of disagreement which indicates that the foundation of their philosophical thought have important differences.

Example 3: You are a fascist!
Fallacy: Ad hominem.
Instead of debating the veracity of ideas, he indicated he willingly choose not to function in the realm of ideas by terminating the discussion by calling me names. This is the lowest that anyone can stoop in the discourse of ideas as it nakedly discards ideas for the sake of dealing in raw emotions.
Factual Aside: I was deeply offended by his name calling and deeply disappointed that someone that I had once respected had proven himself so unworthy of my respect. He physically confirmed his desire to leave the realm of ideas by walking away from the discussion while repeating multiple times that I was a fascist.
Of course, fascism is a form a socialism and both are forms of government in which the state owns the means of production, the results of production or both. In fact, fascism and socialism are the polar opposite of laissez-faire capitalism which is the form of government that I advocate and was advocating in this discussion.

Since this former acquaintance has acknowledged that he does not wish to exist in the realm of ideas, truth and falsity, I will never waste a minute of my life on him again.