Bush Using Straw-Man Arguments in Speeches.

That’s an actual AP headline, I kid you not. (Who knew?) Reporter Jennifer Loven then goes on to help us build up our immune system to protect against Bush’s rhetorical strategeries:

When [the president Bush] 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.

The device usually is code for Democrats or other White House opponents. In describing what they advocate, Bush often omits an important nuance or substitutes an extreme stance that bears little resemblance to their actual position.

He typically then says he “strongly disagrees” — conveniently knocking down a straw man of his own making.

Bush routinely is criticized for dressing up events with a too-rosy glow. But experts in political speech say the straw man device, in which the president makes himself appear entirely reasonable by contrast to supposed “critics,” is just as problematic.

A specialist in presidential rhetoric, Wayne Fields of Washington University in St. Louis, views it as “a bizarre kind of double talk” that abuses the rules of legitimate discussion.

“It’s such a phenomenal hole in the national debate that you can have arguments with nonexistent people,” Fields said. “All politicians try to get away with this to a certain extent. What’s striking here is how much this administration rests on a foundation of this kind of stuff.”

So, watch out when Bush says “some say” because the distortion is sure to follow.

One thing I don’t understand, though—Why would a nice guy, a good Christian man like Bush have to use straw man arguments? I mean, the truth is on His side, right?

NOTE Loven really does to reporting on this. She doens’t just get quotes from the opposing sides; she cites and analyzes Bush’s speeches to make her case. Kudos!