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The Left's Straw Men

By Robert Stacy McCain on 3.31.09 @ 3:16PM

John Hawkins has a list of "The Top Seven Techniques Liberals Use to Lie About Conservatives," including No. 7, the Straw Man:

If you can't find a sin conservatives have committed to attack, then invent one. This is one of the most used arrows in the quiver of liberals who claim the Right wants to create a theocracy, kick senior citizens off of Social Security, or reward the rich at the expense of the middle class.
The Left uses this tactic against specific politicians as well. Remember during the 2004 campaign when the Left kept promising to fight a draft that Bush didn't propose and didn't support? How about all the attacks on Saxby Chambliss because he supposedly questioned the patriotism of crippled war vet Max Cleland? Except, of course, Saxby Chambliss never questioned Cleland's patriotism.

More where that came from.

View all comments (4) | Leave a comment

Bob| 3.31.09 @ 3:44PM

So the right wants to create a theocracy and the left want to create a socialist country. So the right wants entitlement "reform" and the left wants cradle to grave coverage. Why don't you just admit that this is politics and both sides play. Furthermore, there is a bit of truth on both sides.

Interested Conservative| 3.31.09 @ 5:04PM

But Bob - I thought we had moved on from the old tired moral equivalency/an echo not a choice arguments?

The POTUS has asked us to put aside the politics of the past - why don't you just admit that?

Bob| 3.31.09 @ 7:58PM

IC -- politicians and ideologues on both sides overdo these things. This happens when belief overtakes reason.

Red Phillips| 4.1.09 @ 12:53PM

“kick senior citizens off of Social Security”

But shouldn’t the right want to phase out SS over time since it is blatantly UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Now it is a straw man to suggest that anyone wants to kick anyone off SS right away, but how can a conservative credibly talk about following the Constitution if they then act indignant when someone suggests they want to end Social Security (and every other New Deal socialist monstrosity for that matter)? You can’t feign outrage that Obama is not following the Constitution if you accept as a done deal programs that are prima facie unconstitutional.