Some say you're a national disgrace'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.
Because the "some" often go unnamed, Bush can argue that his statements are true in an era of blogs and talk radio. Even so, "'some' suggests a number much larger than is actually out there," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.
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."'
Deys pants is on fireI'm always shocked and fascinated by how often and how blatantly we are lied to at the library. Sometimes they will swear to god and on their mother's grave that they have never had a library card in this county. In fact, this is the first time they have ever set foot in this county. What happens when you put their name into the system? Yup, they not only have a card, they have two cards, both with many lost books. It doesn't happen as much now as it did in telephone reference but with phishing, spyware and library liars you can't help but question the nature of man.
