A convenient fallacy for the less intelligent people to commit. In that regard, I'm tempted to agree with whatever GenghisTheHun says since he just seems to know so much more than I do, it's best to trust him than thinking on my own. (sorry GenghisTheHun to use you as an example, no sarcasm intended)

I saw Blah Blah Blah state it on the Daily Show, and Blah Blah Blah knows his stuff. Therefore it is true. Where have we seen this before?

Dan Brown claims to have studied the documents that support his "DaVinci Code", therefore, the DaVinci Code is accurate.

I have a Ph.D. in the topic, therefore I am correct in my pronouncements on the subject. Heavily used in courtrooms. Remember that it can legitimately be used to add weight to a case, but must be cautiously invoked because an expert *can* be wrong.

A trend in recent years has been for more of us to get our primary source of news from news interpreters instead of news reporters. Whether its John Stewart's The Daily Show, The O'Reilly Factor, Ann Coulter columns, or Air America, more of us are educating ourselves on current events almost exclusively through various opinion pieces that can leave a biased person with even more bias. Have you ever suspected a fellow rater is merely repeating the talking points of a spin doctor, instead of thinking independently? Ever noticed someone throw out a wild internet statistic that can easily be proven false by googling more objective sources? Their fallacies of logic fall under this category.

This one is of particular annoyance to me as I recognize that so-called experts or authority figures are no less human than any of us, and are therefore susceptible to say ANYTHING if the price is right. This one certainly raises some trust issues, and should teach everyone the value of examining things objectively. Never settle for the Because I Said So brand of rhetoric. Always get the facts on your own, and from a variety of sources, and then draw your own conclusions. It all goes back to the old adage that not everything you read is true. Another classic example of this is, God works in mysterious ways, followed by the threat of all the bad things that will happen to you if you question or doubt God.

People do have a tendency to kowtow to authority. Always be critical, never be afraid to question anyone or anything if your not convinced.

In other words: Waaaah, Waaaaaaaah, My mommy said I was right, so I am! So there! Waaaaaaaaaah!