It's not JUST your opinion

I thought I'd take a break from education policy for a moment to address what is fast becoming my least favorite expression: "Well, it's just my opinion."

This is the desperate response of someone who has no response.  

"Obamacare is unconstitutional!  You can't force people to buy insurance."

"Um, you have to buy car insurance if you own a car."

"Well, Obamacare sucks.  That's just my opinion."

Don't get me wrong; liberals do this, too.  

"The Patriot Act is a violation of the 4th Amendment!"

"Isn't gun control a violation of the 2nd Amendment?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"Well, that's just my opinion."

What both these desperate individuals really mean by "it's just my opinion" is "I don't want to lose this argument, but I have no intelligent response to what you've just said.  On the other hand, opinions are subjective.  If I claim that mine is an opinion, you can't disagree with it.  Ha-HA!"

As you well know, opinions are like . . . well, Kurt Vonnegut offered this lovely sketch of what opinions are like.  And everyone has one.

What separates valuable opinions from merely talking out of your ass is the ability to support them with facts.  If you have no facts, your opinion is worth no more than anything else that comes out of that part of your body.  If you do have facts, then it is no longer JUST your opinion.

Let us agree to a moratorium on this expression.  If you've taken the time to educate yourself, to have logical and actual reasons for holding this opinion, we'd love to hear it.  

If all you have is an opinion, keep it to yourself.  

XOX,
The Know-it-All