Anti-philosophy

I have been sitting outside this morning, with one of my new housemates. A policeman cycled past, and looking at him, I appeared to nod.
"Rats, that policeman thought that I greeted him" I said.
Naturally, this little outburst led to one of those rambling political discussions that skip through all sorts of ideological disputes willy nilly. You know, the kind of argument where you try to remember what your 'opponent' once said on the topic of such and such, only to triumphantly throw it back in her face.
"Hah! That's the opposite of what you were saying the other day! What's the matter - cat got your tongue?"
Defeat by confusion. Both parties attempting to reveal inconsistencies in the other's reasoning. If all your statements on a topic don't line up, don't form a coherent whole, then you are doomed. The impoverishment of thought. But it seems that there isn't any other way. You get drawn in, and in no time find yourself using labels with derogatory undertones in order to shame the other person into defeat.