Day By Day

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Lies of the Left -- Obama's Straw Men

Karl Rove writes:
President Barack Obama reveres Abraham Lincoln. But among the glaring differences between the two men is that Lincoln offered careful, rigorous, sustained arguments to advance his aims and, when disagreeing with political opponents, rarely relied on the lazy rhetorical device of "straw men." Mr. Obama, on the other hand, routinely ascribes to others views they don't espouse and says opposition to his policies is grounded in views no one really advocates.
Read it here.

This is a standard rhetorical trick of the Left -- to ascribe to their opponents views that no sane person would hold, then to pose their programs and policies as the rational alternative to lunacy. Obama, as Rove points out, uses it to excess. Too bad that the MSM buys into the caricatures of conservativism being pushed by the Left.