Among the vilest people are those who resort to character assassination in lieu of frank statements of disagreement or serious argument. We see resort to attack on character frequently in politics, but it is becoming increasingly more commonplace in charged arguments over science and medicine. Wherever it appears, it suggests an underlying illicit motivation on the part of the one casting aspersion, but it can succeed in damaging deservedly good reputations, particularly when the one casting aspersion has an apparent position of prominence and access to major media and the one being maligned does not.
Individuals have been falsely labeled liars, embezzlers, frauds, hypocrites, or worse. The charges have sometimes been republished by third parties paid to do so who have made character assassination their stock and trade. Lost in all of this are truth, decency, and the underlying reasons why the person was attacked. Oftentimes character assassination has been used as a means to obfuscate important issues or to advance a private agenda at public expense.
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