More Logic Nerdism (Nerdity? Nerdology?)
I'm not alone! Kevin Drum hates the constant slippery slope "arguments" like I do. He misnames his menace the "reductio ad absurdum" which is a close cousin of the slippery slope fallacy. Many sources cite them as one and the same fallacy. I was taught that technically a reductio ad absurdum is a technique (not always a bad one) that demonstrates, by assuming an argument's premise(s) to be true, that they lead to absurd, untenable positions. When your technique is based on sound reason, you can indeed successfully refute an argument using a reductio ad absurdum. When you're full of crap and trying to scare people, and your "reductio" has no justification, you are guilty of the slippery slope fallacy.

Please, somebody slap me.