Froomkin has picked up on the "Straw Man"

[abbiehoff]

Today's WAPO Froomkin column quotes Jennifer Loven's AP article about Bush using straw man arguments whenever he talks. He also puts in an Orwellian 1984 context which is pretty cool. In fact the title of the column is "War is Peace".

He starts by talking about the avoidance of the word "war"

'It's a little reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984, where the three slogans of the ruling party were "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength."

'Since the disclosures about Bush's warrantless domestic surveillance program, Bush critics have been citing that other dominant slogan from Orwell's book: "Big Brother is Watching You."

But there are plenty of potential Orwell analogies in Bush's use of language, and his historical revisionism, as well.'

Then he goes on to speak of the straw man.


'Another aspect of 1984: the daily "Two Minutes Hate" aimed at Emmanuel Goldstein, the enemy of the people. Unlike the obvious contemporaneous analogue, Osama bin Laden, the Goldstein character was actually a straw man -- a made-up figure created by Big Brother just to be knocked down.'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2006/03/20/BL2006032000742.html?

[Atman]

1. Watching his press conference today, if Bush sets up anymore straw men...

...the White House press room will declared a fire hazard. But at least there won't be any crows.

[blm]

5. Geez - the media had YEARS to expose the strawmen and chose NOT TO.

I will bet that they STILL won't have discussion of Bush's tactics in the broadcast media. It will stay on a few inetrnet news sites and stay there.

[MADem]

2. He is chief cheerleader of the "SOME SAY" brigade

"When the president starts a sentence with 'some say' or offers up what 'some in Washington' believe, as he is doing more often these days, a rhetorical retort almost assuredly follows.
"He typically then says he 'strongly disagrees' -- conveniently knocking down a straw man of his own making.

It's maddening when he does this, because his straw men suck. They have no basis in reality.

[AX10]

3. Bush is not the only one to revise history.

"But there are plenty of potential Orwell analogies in Bush's use of language, and his historical revisionism, as well."

Hitler, Stalin, Benito, Tojo, Pol Pot....all of them too liked to 'revise' history to support their own preferences.

[emulatorloo]

4. This infuriated me in '04 -- Bush "My Opponent would etc etc etc"

Media always showed Bush soundbites characterizing his Straw man Kerry. Then they would show shots of Kerry and summarize badly what Kerry was saying. . .Bush always given a voice, Kerry only a picture.

Kerry never allowed to represent himself, except in the debates.

[radio4progressives]

6. Let's See...

The Corporate Media is now echoing exactly what most of us have been saying just about since 9/11 and the lead up to the war in Iraq - which was in fact occuring at the time.

It was you and I invoking the slogans cited in 1984, Emmanuel Goldstein, the straw man arguments, the lies, distortions and so on..

Why didn't they just come out with this three and half years ago, when it was as clear as day then?

For that matter it should have been a central theme in Kerry's campaign in 2004. If the observations of the people are not amplified in the CM, then it isn't legitimate enough for our own party leaders?

That paradigm, that mind set has to radically change and it has to radically change now.