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[NanceGreggs]

131. How to construct a strawman.

What Obama said: [1]"There was enormous pressure on our law enforcement and our national security teams to try to deal with this. And, you know, it is important for us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect about the tough job that those folks had. And a lot of those folks were working hard under enormous pressure and are real patriots."

That is a far cry from "President Obama thinks you’re sanctimonious for insisting torturers be charged with felonies."

He said nothing about the idea of torturers being charged with felonies; he said nothing about those who think they should be being "sanctimonious".

He was speaking specifically about "law enforcement and nat'l security teams" and the job they had to do in the wake of 9/11. He said nothing about torturers being patriots", as some here would have it.

"And a lot of those folks were working hard under enormous pressure and are real patriots."

Again, not even close to calling torturers "patriots" - unless one takes the position that every single person who had a job to do after the September 11th attacks is, by some kind of default, a "torturer".

Now to erecting that strawman:

Step 1: Take a single word ("santimonoius&quot out of context, and insist that Obama was applying it to people who believe torturers should be prosecuted, when it is perfectly clear from his remarks that he wasn't.

Step 2: Simply ignore everything else that was said, especially "it is important for us not to feel too sanctimonious in retrospect". You can't get the hair-on-fire crowd all jazzed up by acknowledging the "us" in that comment - because it completely obliterates the notion that he was talking about specific people who think torturers should be prosecuted (a topic, BTW, which was never even addressed in his remarks), and was actually talking about all of US as a nation.

Step 3: Post a completely misleading, incredibly ignorant, and woefully ill-informed post about what the President never said as opposed to what he actually said. Get one very large spoon and stir the shit.

Step 4: Give fellow posters a "rallying cry" - "Obama is calling US sanctimonious!!!" Again, ignore the fact that he DIDN'T, not by a long shot. Remember that The Strawman is built on fabrications, and The Strawman is far more important than trivial things like actual facts.

Step 5: When what was actually said is not outrageous, become OUTRAGED!!! by what wasn't said. Pretend to know what Obama was "really saying" when what he actually said does not produce the necessary outrage. The Strawman survives on outrage - whether it is warranted or not is superfluous to the conversation.

Step 6: Get fellow posters to pick up the "rallying cry" and run with it. The "I am sanctimonious" thingy is cutely reminiscent of "I am Spartacus" - just the kind of thing that people who are not interested in facts can glom onto as a substitute for factual information.

Step 7: Rinse, lather, repeat. Post about your outrage at what Obama DIDN'T say until the next thing he DIDN'T say is posted. Then be suitably outraged about THAT.

What is depressing is that many here are not only uninterested in facts; they deem them to be inconsequential. It is far more important to be OUTRAGED!!! than it is to delve into the facts behind what you are being OUTRAGED!!! about. The Strawman must be supported - because without him, so many here would have nothing else to discuss.