Defective U-T editorial cartoon could help Alvarez

"Hitler was a vegetarian. Therefore, vegetarians are bad people."

"Sammy is a con artist. Sammy wears black socks. Therefore, all people who wear black socks are con artists."

"You have friends who are not physically attractive. Therefore, you are ugly."

Anybody with a bit of education realizes these statements represent the association fallacy, commonly known as guilt by association.

On this morning's U-T editorial page is a cartoon by Steve Breen. The headline is "Linkage." David Alvarez and Bob Filner are seen linking arms, with Filner holding a piece of paper that reads "Liberal Policies."

Filner is the most unpopular politician in San Diego these days; he resigned as mayor because of alleged sexual harassment. He admitted he had a "monster" inside and sought psychological help.

Does Breen suggest that Alvarez has a monster inside of him because he shares many of the political ideas that Filner has? Preposterous.

On this day before the election, Alvarez should decide whether to use the Breen cartoon to motivate voters to get to the polls and vote for Alvarez. Visitors from out of town may be horrified to see such a juvenile, illogical cartoon in the local paper.

What is pathetic is what this says about the U-T. Does someone supervise Breen? If so, did that person not see the logical fallacy and suggest that Breen kill the cartoon? Worse, was Breen told to run such a cartoon?