Posted by
Patrick Henry on Monday, May 03, 2010 11:28:55 PM
One of the oldest ploys in political discourse is the old straw man gambit. The straw
man is generally an argument no one is making or a position no one actually holds. The
speaker then proceeds to dismantle the idea or position, tear it limb from linb, and then
declare victory over those who never believed or argued that particular point in the first
place. When artfully done, it can be an impressive tool to persuade the feeble-minded,
whip up the partisan base or try to embarrass the opposition. And there is no one better
or more practiced at using the device than Barack Obama.
A recent case in point was his off-the-cuff coment about Arizona's tough new immigration
enforcement law. "If you don't have your papers, and you take your kid to the ice cream
store, you can be harassed," he pontificates. The problem? The law doesn't say that, and
if a police officer were to do that it would be he who was breaking the law. But you see
how it works. Make your audience think the law says something it doesn't, discredit that
nonsense and then brag about how you "proved" the law was bad.
During a recent speech in Michigan Obama allowed as how he was "troubled by those
who are saying we don't need any government." Now that would be troubling. The problem
is that no one, including the Tea Parties he meant to implicate, has said that American does
not need a government. There are plenty who say America doesn't need "big" government,
or that Obama's concept of government violates what the constitution allows. But not a single
one of them has said that America doesn't need government. Again, you fabricate a position
that is ludicrous on its face, attribute that position to those whom you perceive to be your
enemies, and then destroy it, and hopefully them in the process.
He did something similar when his friend Professor Louis Gates was arrested for trying to
break into his own home. Before the ink had dried on the police report, and before Obama
had read it, he was in front of television cameras babbling about racial prejudice, profiling
and how police "acted stupidly." When the subsequent investigation concluded that police
on the scene acted entirely within procedure, that it was Gates who overreacted, and that the
sergeant in question actually taught classes on how to avoid racial profiling, it became
abundantly clear that Obama had once again concocted a straw man in order to play the
race card and ride a personal hobby horse. Tsk, tsk.
While problems abound with playing the straw man game, the first is that it is
intellectually dishonest, which is to say that the perpetrator knows very well no
one is saying or doing that of which he wants to accuse them. Second, it reflects a kind
of cowardice or lack of confidence about engaging the real issue or idea in a fair and
open debate. Third, it seeks to tar opponents with a bogus brush, suggesting that they
espouse and believe something they clearly don't. Your partisans will cheer, a few bozos
will be awed at your verbal legerdemain, but most average, ordinary people will know
you're just a big, dishonest windbag. In this case the shoe fits, and the president has one
on each foot. We deserve better!