Obama and the straw man

George W. Bush was a pretty heavy user of the straw man -- making up arguments that supposedly his critics made (but didn't really), and then knocking them down. It got to the point that even the media spoke up (i.e. AP). The sentences usually began "some say..."

Obama, unfortunately, does some of the same. I don't think it's nearly as extreme, but it's become regular. It's starting to get some push-back; Jon Stewart noted it at one point recently.

And here was Obama in his Nobel Prize speech:

“For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world. A nonviolent movement could not have halted Hitler’s armies. Negotiations cannot convince Al Qaeda’s leaders to lay down their arms.”

Negotiating with Al Qaeda to lay down their arms? Huh? Presmably he doesn't actually think that that's the only other option to a bigger war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In any case, he is giving his full underhanded attack on all of us who understand the many policy options here that he has chosen against -- trying to pretend those options don't even exist.