Loyalty to Source: Respect the Author's Intent

You watched this great speech on welfare reform on C-Span, and the politician made a comment that made him sound like a raving liberal, when actually he toes the Republican party line. 

Can you take that sentence out of context and use it in your paper to prove that the Republican senator from Wyoming is actually Ted Kennedy in disguise?  Why not?  It's not like you're quoting inaccurately – he really said it!

• When referring to the work or ideas of another, it is very important to respect the overall message of a speech or article and not selectively snip out a quotation that seems to support what you want to argue. 

• If you can't find any scholars who support your position, but you still want to argue that you're right, examine the opposing viewpoint and construct a detailed argument against it.  It's not fair to use edited statements that seem to support you when, taken in context, they really don't.