Watch Live: Obama’s Counterterrorism Speech

‘#24forOK’: Doc Thompson Begins 24 hour radio marathon to Benefit Oklahoma Tornado Victims!

Politics

Can You Guess How Many Straw Man Arguments Were in Obama’s Speech?

Jan. 21, 2013 5:20pm Mytheos Holt

President Obamas Second Inaugural Contains One Logical Fallacy Every 2 Minutes

US President Barack Obama waves after taking the oath of office during the 57th Presidential Inauguration ceremonial swearing-in at the US Capitol on January 21, 2013 in Washington, DC. The oath was administered by US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

President Obama has an, at times, well-deserved reputation for delivering his speeches well. Certainly, the president made an impression today when he delivered his second inaugural address calling for a bolder, more expansive government that would be committed increasingly to the principles of liberalism, with characteristic soaring rhetoric.

Unfortunately, another characteristic was also in evidence in Obama’s speech: namely, his tendency to argue against positions that nobody holds (and by extension, to mischaracterize his opponents’ views so as to make them easier to argue against). In logic, this unfortunate tendency is referred to as a “straw man fallacy” and it was well-worn in President Obama’s speech today – so well-worn that at times, he seemed to cough up a new straw man fallacy with every sentence. How many of these arguments in bad faith did the President use? Read on as we list each one and explain their fallacious nature.

Straw Man #1:

“For the American people can no more meet the demands of today’s world by acting alone than American soldiers could have met the forces of fascism or communism with muskets and militias.”

The President’s line about muskets and militias is a rhetorical flourish more than an argument, but the first part of this line is an obvious straw man. No one in the current political climate is arguing for a complete dissolution of government power such that only the American people as a collective would be responsible for defending the country or performing any other task. Rather, the question is how much responsibility should be left to private citizens. Saying “private citizens cannot handle all responsibilities” is not the same as saying “private citizens cannot handle any responsibility at all.”

Straw Man #2:

“No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future, or build the roads and networks and research labs that will bring new jobs and businesses to our shores.”

Like the first straw man, this one argues against something which is obviously false, and which no one believes. A single, individual person obviously cannot do all of this alone, but again, that does not imply that if someone cannot do something alone, the government must step in and do it for them. For instance, an architect cannot build a skyscraper alone. He needs laborers, engineers, and other people. But saying he can’t do this alone is not the same thing as saying that private citizens cannot cooperatively agree to do this without help from the government.

Straw Man #3:

“We reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future. For we remember the lessons of our past, when twilight years were spent in poverty and parents of a child with a disability had nowhere to turn.”

No one is proposing completely giving up caring for older generations, nor is anyone proposing completely ignoring young people’s needs. The question is how much government can afford to spend on each. More to the point, no one on either side is proposing complete abolition of programs that help the elderly or the disabled.

Straw Man #4:

“Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of raging fires and crippling drought and more powerful storms.”

This straw man, which deals with global warming, is actually two fallacies in one. It is a straw man because no one believes they can avoid the impact of natural disasters completely, and it also begs the question by assuming that solving global warming will solve the problem of fires, drought and storms, while simultaneously trying to prove that by solving global warming, natural disasters will be lessened.

Straw Man #5:

“We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war.”

The President’s critics on national security do not believe in perpetual war. They may believe in seeing some wars through to their conclusion, or starting other wars out of necessity, but none of them believes in perpetual war for its own sake.

Straw Man #6:

“For our journey is not complete until our wives, our mothers and daughters can earn a living equal to their efforts.”

People arguing against bills such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which claim to be devoted to ensuring equal pay for women, often do so because they are concerned that these laws give trial lawyers too much of an excuse to sue, not because they believe women should be underpaid.

Straw Man #7:

“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well.”

Again, there are no mainstream political figures who believe that gays should be unequal before the law. In fact, gays enjoy all the same constitutional protections as straight people. The question of whether the right to marriage is one of those constitutional protections, however, is an unresolved question, though the Supreme Court may resolve it later this year. This straw man also assumes that the only function of marriage is to facilitate love. That is certainly one view, but it is not one that all critics of gay marriage subscribe to, and thus assuming that they oppose gay marriage out of opposition to love is a straw man.

Straw Man #8:

“Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity.”

Shutting off immigration completely is not a policy proposal being offered. What is being argued about is the question of what to do with people who immigrated to the US in contradiction to its laws.

Straw Man #9:

“Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life. It does not mean we all define liberty in exactly the same way or follow the same precise path to happiness.”

This is obviously true, but is also a straw man because no one believes that following a blueprint for governance requires the people following that blueprint to make all the same lifestyle choices. This is not even an argument that constitutional originalists on the Supreme Court advance. The President is arguing against a position that is not held by his critics.

That’s nine straw men in slightly under 20 minutes. In other words, one logical fallacy every 2 minutes, on average.

Benghazi, IRS, AP...What's next? Only TheBlaze TV offers the truth from Glenn Beck, Andrew Wilkow, and Real News from TheBlaze. Get instant access and a free trial here.

Back to The Blaze »

Comments (167)

13a
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:14pm
Go easy on your readers, Blaze. Most of them don’t know what a logical fallacy is yet! Excellent article!!

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- doomytram
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:44pm
  Most huh? Do you have a straw man in your pocket?
  
  Report this comment
- banjarmon
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 8:10pm
  Within minutes he is breaking the OATH OF OFFICE!!! REAL OATH KEEPERS NEED TO REMOVE HIM!!
  
  Report this comment
- CathyvanDyke
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 8:42pm
  I agree 13A. Excellent expose’!! Thanks Mytheos Holt. Glenn … what you say? I failed to locate your take on Barack Obama’s Inauguration speak. The Glenn Beck I have followed since his CNN days right up until a short while prior to the 2012 election would have ripped apart this doublespeak speech word by word and exposed the speaker and the ideology he embraces … MARXIST!! MARXISM!! I really miss that Glenn.
  
  Glenn Beck’s Misfit Ball is tonight!
  http://www.glennbeck.com/content/blog/show/glenn-beck%E2%80%99s-misfit-ball-is-tonight/
  
  Report this comment
- CathyvanDyke
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:01pm
  Obama: ‘I’m a Pretty Darned Good Politician’
  Wednesday, April 16, 2008
  “I’m a pretty darn good politician. And I can give a pretty good speech and I can connect and inspire the American people in ways that I think will become apparent.”
  http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/04/16/obama-im-a-pretty-darned-good-politician/
  
  Liz Cheney on Obama: A Gift for Reading the TelePrompter Is Not the Same as Leadership
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE7XaOUsGMo
  
  Report this comment
- SendTheMeteors
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:23pm
  You know this is just kind of silly. I won’t even try to address all of these “straw men” and frankly didn’t bother to read past the third one. So let me talk about “Straw Man #1!”
  
  The author of this piece says, Saying “private citizens cannot handle all responsibilities” is not the same as saying “private citizens cannot handle any responsibility at all.”
  
  President Obama didn’t say “private citizens cannot handle any responsibility at all.” Are you kidding? Talk about straw men! To suggest Obama said or implied that absurd statement is ridiculous. That doesn’t even make sense. But then again, given the audience here, if you say the President believes that “private citizens cannot handle any responsibility at all,” well, the uneducated will assume that is what the President believes, as ludicrous as it is that the President or anyone believes that.
  
  Which brings up to topic of governmental support of education.
- Jim S
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:31pm
  ..No, daily readers of The Blaze are well versed in logical fallacy..it’s pretty much the cornerstone of this web site. My God, David Barton is the house historian ! We know our logical fallacies and cherish them. Don’t underestimate us.
  
  Report this comment
- CathyvanDyke
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:58pm
  Straw Man #11:
  
  “Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.”
  
  Doublespeak Translation – Gun Control
  
  Full Speech:
  http://www.therightscoop.com/krauthammer-on-inaugural-address-it-was-an-ode-to-big-government-declaring-the-end-of-reaganism/
  
  Report this comment
- muffythetuffy
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 10:04pm
  THERE IS NO DENYING IT NOW, WE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY TWO SEPARATE PEOPLE WITH SEPARATE DREAMS
  
  Obama’s and the Democrat’s dreams are not the dreams of the American people. Obama the man who is as illegitimate as a President as he was a child knows as much about Americans as Buddha. He can do anything he wants when the rest of us secede form this renegade lawless government. He may have plans but we have plans too.
  
  Report this comment
- fraumj
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 10:26pm
  Excellent article indeed! I just wish that one of the conservative politicians actually come out and say these things… to the people, not to the President or some newscaster or tv host.
  
  Report this comment
- FreeUsAll
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 10:42pm
  The real logical fallacy is the fact that the man doesn’t understand that just because government exists does not necessarily mean that it actually does anything helpful to mankind… but that’s just my philosophical AnCap talking.
  
  Report this comment
- DeathRattle
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 10:46pm
  Doomy
  
  I’m sure 13A was referring to the liberal troll Blaze readers being unable to absorb the straw man argument.
  
  Report this comment
- TheePolitinator
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 11:00pm
  Love how people come to the blaze and call us right wingers, Beckerheads etc. What they don’t realize is most of us awake know both parties are equally corrupt, and don’t support either party.
  
  It’s all about the cartels. Why can’t people get that?
  
  Report this comment
- VoteBushIn12
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 11:46pm
  @SENDTHEMETEORS
  Thank you!
  
  My head nearly exploded when I realized how ironic the claim was. If only more readers had your keen eye for the obvious.
  
  Report this comment
- CathyvanDyke
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 11:49pm
  George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 5
  “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?… Has it ever occurred to your, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?… The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking-not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”
  
  Isaiah 5:20
  “What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.”
  
  Report this comment
- milez5
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 2:17am
  Well here is something else to go easy on. The term logical fallacy is used to suggest that the President has made some kind of honest error in judgement. At some point we must accept that the main is a radical leftist and view all that he says and does with that in mind.
  
  Report this comment
- naughtycal
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 8:30am
  meteors,
  What responsibilities has the Obama cabal said citizens can handle. what to eat NO,What to drive NO,their childrens education NO,Where to set their thermostats NO,HOW TO PROTECT THEIR FAMILIES NO,How getting an ID to keep fraud out of our elections NO,How to spend the money they earn NO,
  You’re either in with authoritarian socialism or you are so deluted intellectually that you can’t see you’re supporting it.
  Either way you’re a waste of time for the readers on this site.
  
  Report this comment
- naughtycal
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 8:33am
  You hit the nail on head muffy. Much like the people of egypt had an arab spring it may be time for us to have an AMERICAN SPRING.
  
  Report this comment
- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 9:06am
  That’s rather insulting 13A, as well as an unfounded supposition which relates not to the article, but to those who read it and what you perceive their personal level of knowledge to be, distracting from the target article; which makes your initial comment itself a logical fallacy (argumentum ad hominem).
  
  Report this comment
- Silvertruth
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 11:57am
  13A
  Attacking the readers of this site with hyperbole just demonstrates your own lack of logical judgement.
  
  Meteors
  Consistently, intentionally, misreading someone’s comments like you are doing is what you are accusing the author of doing which makes your statement hypocritical at best. The authors intent was clearly taking the Presidents statement to its logical conclusion of only relying on the US military condition as it existed in 1776 (we only had militias and loosely organized cvilian forces), which is what the Presidents literal statement DID imply. Thus creating a false, straw-man, position. So the author’s statements are correct. The author’s logical grey area is wether or not the context of the Presidents statement truly was attempting to bring gun control into the discussion or not. That could be setting up a straw man as well, but we do know for a fact that the President does want greater gun control and thus it’s not a straw man, but an educated implication of context discourse based on the Presidents historical position on the subject. That is a fancy way of saying the author is entitled to his opininon, just as the President is.
  
  Report this comment
- CathyvanDyke
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 1:17pm
  C-SPAN: President Reagan 1981 Inaugural Address
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpPt7xGx4Xo
  
  Barack Obama 2013 Inauguration Speech
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zncqb-n3zMo
  
  George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 5
  “Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?… Has it ever occurred to your, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?… The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact, there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking-not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.”
  
  Report this comment
- hypnos
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 2:57pm
  @ meteors I think strawman 1 is an example of using a general truth ie no man is an island.However, the second statement is an irrelevant illustration that by itself is odd but inferring it to the first general statement is ludicrous. Notice the key words american soldiers defeat communism and fascism with muskets and militia.american soldiers don’t need a militia and muskets is just a dig at second admendment debate. While else would ther be such a nonsensical statement.
  
  Report this comment
thibx
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:04pm
this man cannot speak he halfass can read. he always emphasiszes the last word in the sentance he reads, so dumb. God made a covenant between male and female, oboma shakes his fist in the face of God every chance he gets. God will have the last laugh. big o will stand before Him.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Catherine A.
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:22pm
  And you can barely write.
  
  Report this comment
- Stelex
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:31pm
  It’s probably Tim or Waters or whatever.
  
  Report this comment
- Keatonc333
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 8:54pm
  Good lord man. YOU are insulting his intelligence and ability to read? Didn’t God mention something about throwing stones
  
  Report this comment
- Wolf
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 11:14pm
  It’s because oblahblah is the original straw man.
  
  Report this comment
media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:55pm
I would have had the shortest speech in history, modeled after the President’s famous “public service announcements”?

Take time to be a dad today, make a budget.

Thank you very much, Clint Eastwood and his inaugural address to Congress, have left the building..?

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
alinskythis
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:52pm
Translation:

#1 Communism. The Globots openly talk about the evils of individualism.

#2 See #1.

#3 I disagree. They mean to, and are doing, great harm to the elderly. Kill Granny and the disabled. They are too damned expensive, and they are using OUR GLOBOT MONEY!! I’ve been hearing this from Globots for over 20 years. They HATE old people and openly say things like, “They should be eliminated,” or “They should never be given licenses,” or “They’ve outlived their usefulness” or “The money is running out” and they are DEAD SERIOUS. Medical murders happen every single day, and they even brazenly harass old people in public and in their homes.

#4 They mean they and their “friends” are going to THRIVE, and the rest of us will be eating dirt. That means, we’re going to come in your house, and take all your stuff. Yes, really. They have already been doing this, to some of us, for decades.

#5 Bulls**t Global Warming. Or Cooling. Or Climate Change. It’s the biggest hoax of all. Do you KNOW how much CO2 was in the atmosphere millions of years ago? The plants and animals were enormous, because food was so abundant. CO2 is NOT our problem, but just about everything else could be, especially things like chem trails and the HAARP installations planted all over the globe.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- alinskythis
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:05pm
  #6 Perpetual WAR? When was the last time we DIDN’T have a war? That is what the Illuminati DO. They make obscene amounts of money funding first one side of a manufactured conflict, then the other in another. They keep the globe in a state of flux because busy and scared people are the best sheeple, and because it makes them the richest bastards on the planet. The American Revolution was supposedly funded by the Freemason Illuminati.
  
  #7 That is so rich, considering how sexist and hostile the White House working environment is. Good luck with this one. I worked in an HR capacity off and on, and was sickened that women who were superior in every way to the men made no more than 75% of what the men made, and that was considered a very good haul. I don’t believe men – particularly THAT MAN – really believes women should be equal.
  
  Report this comment
- alinskythis
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:06pm
  #8 The marriage thing is all about money, really, and could be pretty disruptive to some very large concerns going at the moment. Stop the whining. We have way bigger problems, and we’re all sick of the addiction to martyrdom. Next!
  
  #9 A BETTER WAY?????????????? Illegal immigrants get the best of EVERYTHING without having to pay for it. They have decimated the construction industry job market. They get social services programs up the WAZOO that no non-minority could ever get. There is even an APP created by someone at UCSD that directs the illegals to the safest routes, the best places to get their needs met and much more. They get EXTREME favoritism from our government, so stop FREAKING WHINING. WE’RE SICK OF IT, AND WE’RE NOT GOING TO PAY FOR IT ANY MORE!!!
  
  #10 Kill the Constitution. Kill the Constitution. Kill the Constitution.
  
  Report this comment
Beachmastermax
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:51pm
Yes, but, if a tree falls in the forest and there is no one to hear it, does it make a sound?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- AnimalsAsLeaders
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 8:23pm
  it certainly vibrates the air molecules around it
  
  Report this comment
- Gazoiks
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 7:22am
  The real question is: “If a man speaks in the woods, and there is no woman to hear it, is he still wrong?”
  
  Report this comment
- caveman74
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 12:44pm
  That is relative. Sound only exists where there is something to perceive that sound. Otherwise as the other comment states nothing more than the movement of air occurs. Some studies have shown that plants do perceive sound and react to positive and negative tones of voice. So one could argue that other trees and plants “hear” the crash of the fallen tree and react in some way to either prepare for a threat to their own safety or to morn the loss of a fallen forest flora. In short, my answer to the question is a definate maybe.
  
  Report this comment
Haasbola
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:49pm
Keaton33 is that you under the 333 now, how Obama like of you. For folks like you it takes a complete collapse before you wake up. A drone. I see you in here and after reading the Blaze listening to Glen, you still believe Obama is a middle of the road Democrat, maybe like JFK, ask what you can do for your country not what your country can do for you. Obama says what can the rich do for the poor, government by controlling Health Care can now mandate doctors to report you to the Feds if he /she thinks you might be a little unstable and might commit a crime. The doctors licenses will be revoked if they do not. That is one example of Marxism. The lies he tells daily, if you cant see them then it will only be when he completely crushes this country is that when you will stop and say oh damn I should have done my own homework, Glen says it all the time, DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK. He says what he needs to say to win the argument or election and then turns around and does the opposite. Drones like you do not care. I don’t care who is in power a liar is a liar….

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
I_AM_HARRISON_BERGERON
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:47pm
I caught at least one more that was not listed.

As usual, still campaigning, still insulting Americans, still dividing, still downplaying the constitution, still displaying his desire to remove this nation from the very foundations that made it great, still trying to sell the idea of socialism while calling it something else, and still trying to make the interest payments over the sale of his soul to Satan.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Stelex
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:35pm
  Harrison, I don’t think I thanked you. For years I’ve been trying to remember that short story and who wrote it, they even made a tv movie. Then I saw your name and bingo……..thanks and I owe you one.
  
  Report this comment
- I_AM_HARRISON_BERGERON
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:59pm
  @ STELEX No, thank you. I’ve been wondering how many would catch on. Looking back, it is so hard to believe that this was required reading in my public high school. That, and Ray Bradburys’ Farenheight 451. How did things change so quickly with all of the warnings that we grew up with?
  
  Report this comment
- Stelex
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 8:23pm
  We fell asleep, we lost touch with government as long as it didn’t really hurt us. We consumed and became dependent. Some of us anyway. And the Progressives took over the media, the schools and finally the gov. Now we are behind the eight ball. We need to be smart otherwise this gets real ugly
  
  Report this comment
- LIBERTARIAN T38
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:01pm
  Romney should have given every American a copy of Animal Farm. Obama is everything we were warned about last century by people who saw it happen.
  
  Report this comment
TIMEBOMB
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:47pm
I could have enough straw man arguments to fill a million barns and you simpletons will support me your magnificent gay Marxist ruler. Gaze upon me simpletons,me and my beard with the hideous hairdo strutting about like we own the place,well okay I do own it but that’s beside point. The point is I’m here for another four years to finish you off and cause a global depression and with the help of millions of my idiotic worshipers I’ll complete my task and transform you into a third world country. You’ll be starving and rioting rampaging through cities and towns all across your country and pops will be so happy,I know pops can’t wait for the carnage to begin and it won’t be long pops,mayhem coming right up.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Stelex
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:40pm
  Can’t help but notice your chewing gum all the time now, why don’t you just start smoking in public, you’re free know, tell Michelle to piss off and just smoke your damn cigarettes in public. Just don’t cower as your bro Eric H says smokers do now. Stand up …… be a man and smoke with pride or does your wife run the show as most suspect.
  
  Report this comment
Jim S
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:43pm
mmmmm 13% less than the The Blaze on a daily basis ?..more? less ?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Psychosis
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:54pm
  prove it
  
  tr.oll
  
  Report this comment
- Jim S
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:54pm
  Psychosis
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:54pm
  prove it
  tr.oll
  1) it’s his daughter’s account of the unusual private trip to the country taken earlier this month that is causing a stir.”….first paragraph of N.Korea story today..there is no stir…young woman told what she saw, no one is shocked or think she’s untruthful…NO STIR..false story..Straw Man
  2) Every story with liberal nut Mike Malloy, there is one today…you could have a daily piece of crazy Malloy or crazy Alex Jones..neither have ever been news or spoken for anyone but themselves,BUT Malloy is elevated to “Liberal” talk show host..he not liberal,he’s insane..call Alex centrist conservative…it’s a false title..a Straw Man ..not real
  3)Tom Arnold’s opinion on anything elevates it to being of some import?..When was the last time you asked, “What would Tom do?”…but he,again, is presented as someone of import and then his opinion has import and it’s wrong and he’s Hollywood sooooo…Straw Man…if he’s not of import, why waste space?
  4)Is This YouTube Video Proof That NASA’s Moon Landings Were Definitely NOT Faked?…no comment needed…
  …within every one is a false narrative stated or implied by it’s being published..
  now in some cases it appears somebody just feels a need to put anything new up and make it sound significant…the actual facts,in some, maybe be correct,the reporting slant is the Straw Man…
  
  Report this comment
sbenard
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:32pm
Apparently, President Straw Man didn’t see himself as inaugurated. He thought he was CORONATED instead!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
sbenard
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:28pm
I’ve been saying for 4 years that Don Quixote de la Obama sees more straw men than the original Don saw windmills to battle against!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
sbenard
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:26pm
The Prevaricator President is the Deceiver in Chief!

As big government gains, freedom wanes! Americans are about to learn that when the wicked rule, the people really DO mourn!

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
alinskythis
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:22pm
I wouldn’t know.

I stuck my fingers in my ears and screamed the whole time.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Holger Danske
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:20pm
Regarding Straw Man #7 — besides, it is not the effort that counts, it is the performance. If a person, regardless of the color of their skin, their gender, their age, etc., is able to get the job done twice as well as me in half the time, they should get paid twice what I get paid. That’s true even if I worked really hard at it.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
dadsrootbeer
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:17pm
Straw man arguments delivered by an empty suit.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Just in time
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:04pm
I think the gays have been missing a very important time to coin their own word for what they want. Marriage was coined literally thousands of years ago by heterosexuals who believe that a marriage is the union of one man and one woman. If they could just raise their big head up out of their lovers crouch for just a little while they could probably come up with one.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
chips1
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:55pm
I’m going to hate living in a thatched hut and stepping over elephant dung just to go to the community latrine.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Southernsoul
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:46pm
My guess. 1. It started with the first word he uttered and ended when he finished. Every single word this man utters is an out and out lie.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- bioya1
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:08pm
  I suspect that his farts are more truthful than his words.
  
  Report this comment
- BODYBAG
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:23pm
  This is typical Sociopathic Marxist, Alinski-style rhetoric.
  
  Just like the trolls that come to this site. You’ll notice for example on any gun thread they
  make arguments like “So if there’s no regulation then I can have a nuke right?”
  
  Report this comment
- Zejaybee
  Posted on February 8, 2013 at 12:15pm
  @Bioya1 – Exception… His SBDs are not truthful. :o)
  
  Report this comment
FISH_BONE
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:45pm
“President Obama has an, at times, well-deserved reputation for delivering his speeches well.”

Are you kidding me? He sounds like an idiot every time he opens his mouth. Didn’t he do the voice for Yogi Bear in the old cartoons?

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- pagraywolf
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:05pm
  I’m glad to read that I’m not the only one who considers him a poor speaker.
  
  Report this comment
- FISH_BONE
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:16pm
  Uhhh, hey Boo Boo, uhhh…. lets uhhh go steal another, uhhhhh pic a nic basket….
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:25pm
  Hey Boo-boo.
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:28pm
  FISH_BONE, Dang, you beat me to it. That was a great set up though.
  
  Report this comment
- phrogdriver
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 8:31pm
  Bill Clinton gave great speechs. You are correct, this guy is terrible. I’ve NEVER understood all the undeserved praise he’s received for his ridiculous speeches.
  
  Report this comment
- 4BlueStars
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:23pm
  Certainly not! In comparison Yogi Bear was erudite.
  
  Report this comment
- 4BlueStars
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:28pm
  Certainly not! Yogi Bear was quite erudite in comparison.
  
  Report this comment
Witness1974
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:44pm
Put a straw hat, flannel shirt, and some overhalls on him and he IS the strawman.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Eastinfection
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:36pm
  More like the Wizard.
  
  Pull back the false bravado and curtain and find a con-man pulling the strings.
  
  Report this comment
- GeorgieJo
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:25pm
  and Georgie SpookyDude SOROS is TOTO?
  LMAO
  whoops I meant—The Gore Green curtain
  
  Report this comment
Captain Crunch
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:44pm
I’m soooo SICK of this man. I still cannot believe the American people re-elected him. I’d bet money we are going to find out the voting machines were all rigged.

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- TheirMom
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:13pm
  I don’t think it was so much the voting machines, although several problems were reported and quickly hushed up. Remember, voter I.D. Laws were suspended until after this election, as were purges of voter registration rolls. States who started to review their voter regrestration lists with lists of deceased voters or those who havd moved were told to cease and desist until after the election.
  
  Report this comment
- majasdad
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:30pm
  I’m soooo sick of bitter losers commenting on the Blaze.
  What a contrast, hearing that amazing speech and watching the huge, enthusiastic crowds celebrating the reelection of an intelligent, empathetic President with renewed self-confidence….. and coming to this marginalized site full of crybabies and home-schooled halfwits.
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:06pm
  Majasdad When do you think we’ll get our first black president? Will he/she be as racist as Barry and his beard?
  
  Report this comment
- RIGHTHOOK
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:41pm
  MAJASDAD – Then why do you peruse this site? Frankly people that embrace this site embrace liberty and the freedoms our Constitution afford us unlike entitlement freaks like yourself that find it problematic.
  Catch the next flight (or rubber raft) to Cuba and enjoy the good life!
  
  Report this comment
- Stelex
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:48pm
  Maja……..If a millions of people do a stupid thing, its still a stupid thing.
  
  Report this comment
- LIBERTARIAN T38
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:13pm
  Majasdad…Hitler was elected in 1933 to screaming throngs of German Democrats. Then the Reichstag burned and Hitler demanded emergency powers. He proceeded to ban opposition parties, institute socialism, ban guns, pump up the public works projects and begin the straw man arguments against everyone…man he was popular and his followers were determined just like you to destroy everyone who disagreed no matter what it did to the country and the world.
  
  Report this comment
- CathyvanDyke
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:14pm
  Voter Fraud in Florida Analyzed by Allen West – Sean Hannity – 11-12-12
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-aVy_s76ZY
  
  Report this comment
- CathyvanDyke
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:26pm
  Barack Obama has been appeasing the Blacks, Muslims, Illegal immigrants and the politically naive to further his far left agenda … his far left agenda that goes beyond liberalism.
  
  LTC Allen West on Illegal Immigration
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nmn0mFV7xFs
  
  Report this comment
- 4BlueStars
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 9:47pm
  @MAJASDAD, Well then by all means feel free to hang out at HuffPo or the Kos where you and other like-minded lemmings, oops! I mean Leftists can all wallow together in self-congratulatory euphoria that you and your fellow travelers have finally dumbed-down the masses and debased the culture so much that you were able to get them to re-elect an abject failure with no positive achievements to his credit and you now have a real chance to finally complete the decline and destruction of the United States of America. No, it’s quite alright really. We’ll be fine here without you.
  
  Report this comment
- majasdad
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 7:30am
  @RIGHTHOOK
  Then why do I peruse this site?
  Because it’s entertaining as hell. I’m also doing you people a favor by offering you an insight into the real world and not some alternate universe.
  
  Report this comment
- RIGHTHOOK
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 8:44am
  MAJASDAD – Get over yourself pal. You are a pompous and as delusional as the King you adore.
  
  Report this comment
biohazard23
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:37pm
That’s all of them? I’m sure he could have found a few more.

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
thekuligs
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:30pm
A. As many as he could possibly fit

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply
Lloyd Drako
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:28pm
The biggest straw man current these days? “Obama wants to take your guns away.”

Report this comment
Log in to ReplyReply
- Cavallo
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:34pm
  Oh? Just like Obama wasn’t going to raise our taxes?
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:36pm
  Come on Lloyd pull your head out and see what’s happening to our country,we’re getting screwed by the Marxist heathen.
  
  Report this comment
- Keatonc333
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:42pm
  True that Drako! and Obama didn’t raise taxes. he lowered them 2 years ago and then congress decided not to renew the tax holiday so they were restored to the Bush tax cuts.
  
  Report this comment
- Keatonc333
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:44pm
  Prog slayer… again what makes you believe he is marxist? socialist? communist? etc etc? just one unprecedented example of legislation.
  
  Report this comment
- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:44pm
  Yeah, Lloyd, and everybody who likes his doctor can keep the same one.
  
  Report this comment
- henryKnox
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:44pm
  Even Obama has said that he wants to take our guns away. He is on record saying that he doesn’t believe anyone should own firearms. I don’t see how this compares to all the examples in his speech, which are very common examples of his caricature creations of his opposition. The main reason we can’t listen to him is because he is always making these strange statements that have no foundation in truth.
  
  Report this comment
- lawrench
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:45pm
  Or that the Affordable Care Act would not cost the average person any more money? Or that he will only raise taxes on the rich? Or my favorite, he will end the economic downturn?
  
  Why do you believe everything that people tell you? I can have great speeches about things that no one disputes, does not mean that my actions will reflect my words.
  
  Report this comment
- ABO
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:00pm
  How about insurance premiums going down $2,500 per…actually going up over $2,500…Dude, you are a moron if you believe this fool of a president
  
  Report this comment
- Zipit
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:00pm
  Yeah Lloyd! And my health care costs were gonna go down 2,500 dollars!
  
  Report this comment
- progressiveslayer
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 6:23pm
  Keaton Wealth redistribution is one example and he did it when he gutted medicare of 750 billion and injected it into medicaid,that’s redistribution of wealth. Thousands and thousands of draconian regulations from A to Z to micro manage our lives,it’s the expansion of the federal government that’s destroying our republic.
  
  Report this comment
- Matrix22
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 7:33pm
  Does he, or does he not, want to make AR-15′s and the equipment to go with them illegal? If yes, then yes, he does want to take away our choice of what “arms” to own.
  
  Report this comment
- LIBERTARIAN T38
  Posted on January 21, 2013 at 11:20pm
  Sigh…the fascist trolls are just so annoying here on the Blaze…worse since they got Ohitler reelected…you just know the attitude the Nazi soldiers had when they thought they had won….
  
  Report this comment
- Lloyd Drako
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 8:49am
  I cannot find anywhere that Obama has ever said that “no one should own a gun.” His actual policy proposals since Newtown go to regulation of future purchases of certain types of weapons and certain types of ammunition and magazines, expanded and standardized mental health and criminal background checks for prospective purchasers, and registration of sales at gun shows. So far as I can tell, no firearms currently in your possession would be confiscated, so long as they were legally acquired and not used in commission of a crime.
  
  Report this comment
- Playmakin
  Posted on January 22, 2013 at 1:29pm
  My taxes went up to the tune of $190/month and I make a hell of a lot less than $400,000. Obuma is a liar; every other sentence out of his mouth is a lie/half truth or a lie by omission. Like when he claims Romney is not paying his fair share in taxes because his tax rate was 13%. Obuma never bothers to tell you that it’s the second bite of the apple, ie CAPITAL GAINS! Obuma’s hope is that stupid Americans will continue to believe him…and many do!
  
  Report this comment
rickroland
Posted on January 21, 2013 at 5:22pm
I’m surprised he had so few. :)

Report this comment
Log in to Reply Reply

It appears that you have Javascript Disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser preferences for a better user experience on TheBlaze. You can not comment without Javascript enabled.