Top Five Straw Men Obama Used in West Point Foreign Policy Address

Obama: “We need to do stuff. And the stuff we will do will not be stuff that a crazy person says we should do. It will be good stuff.”

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 28, 2014

For Breitbart.com, Charlie Spiering writes:

President Obama outlined his foreign policy on Wednesday during a speech at the graduation ceremony at West Point.

Throughout his speech, Obama used “straw man” arguments, setting up “critics” or “skeptics” that existed to disagree with the president before being knocked down by his rhetoric. While some of these positions are held by political

figures such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) or Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), these politicians chafe at having their views presented in a narrow context. For the sake of his speech, Obama presents these positions as the extreme, while carefully positioning himself in the middle.

Here are five examples:

1. Those who believe America is in decline

Obama assured West Point graduates that “America has rarely been stronger relative to the rest of the world” and those who think differently are just wrong.

“Those who argue otherwise – who suggest that America is in decline, or has seen its global leadership slip away – are either misreading history or engaged in partisan politics,” he said.

2. Those who warn against foreign entanglements

President Obama pointed out that throughout history, foreign policy has fallen into two camps, one of which were “self-described realists” who were reluctant to go to war.

“[T]here have been those who warned against foreign entanglements that do not touch directly on our security or economic well-being,” he said.

Remember when President Obama was in this camp? Not anymore.

3. Those who want to intervene around the globe

“A different view, from interventionists on the left and right, says we ignore these conflicts at our own peril,” Obama said.

Not surprisingly, Obama believes that “neither view fully speaks to the demands of this moment.”…(read more)

Brietbart.com

Related articles

• ‘Who says that?’ Obama busts out the straw men for West Point commencement speech (twitchy.com)
• Karl Rove: Only Thing New in Obama Speech Was the ‘Straw Men’ (mediaite.com)
• Obama vs. His Imagined Critics (commentarymagazine.com)
• Obama at West Point: ‘Because We Have the Best Hammer Does Not Mean that Every Problem Is a Nail’ (nationalreview.com)
• Obama pivots to foreign policy, media not exactly impressed (hotair.com)
• Obama: I don’t have time to explain my “doctrine,” but let me explain Bush’s (hotair.com)
• The Obama Straw Man Doctrine (legalinsurrection.com)