Editing Damaging quotation (section)

== Categories ==
There are various common categories of quotations: [[malapropism]]s or grammatical errors, exaggerations about past achievements, lack of conviction, consorting with the enemy, [[moral turpitude]], indifference towards victims of crime, racist or discriminatory, etc. 

In the case of [[malapropism]]s, it is a rhetorical fallacy (called [[ad hominem|argument ad hominem]]) to conclude that the entire argument of whoever made the utterance is incorrect. Yet it has become common in partisan [[argument]] in the [[United States]]. For instance: former [[Vice President of the United States|U.S. Vice President]] [[Al Gore]], during an interview with [[Wolf Blitzer]] on CNN (March 9, 1999) stated, "During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet. I took the initiative in moving forward a whole range of initiatives that have proven to be important to our country's economic growth and environmental protection, improvements in our educational system." This has frequently been distorted by opponents to say that Gore claimed, "I invented the Internet." Partisans have so often used this distorted quotation to discredit him that Internet pioneer [[Vint Cerf]] (and others who participated in ''actually'' inventing the Internet) have made a point of noting Gore's support and the error of the discreditors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sethf.com/gore/|title = Al Gore "invented the Internet" - resources}}</ref>

With the availability of inexpensive [[computers]] and the widespread use of the [[Internet]], it has become easy for anyone to accumulate and distribute these quotation lists. Like the "[[Yogiisms]]" of baseball great [[Yogi Berra]], or the [[Colemanballs]] collected by ''[[Private Eye (magazine)|Private Eye]]'', a damaging quotation purports to give insight into the thinking of the speaker, frequently a politician or of the politicians or political groups that used it as means of attack. As such they belong to the colorful history of political [[satire]].