Bush's Imaginary Foes

"As the White House intensifies a campaign to paint its opponents as wobbly in the war on terrorism, Democrats say it is engaging in a rhetorical device that subtly distorts their positions to make them seem extreme or misguided, raising phantom positions and implying they belong to Democrats before knocking them down as dangerous.

"Current and former administration officials say some cases cited by the Democrats are legitimate interpretations of Democratic positions through a deductive, if Republican, lens. Other times, they say, Democrats were seeing things that were not there.

"Each side agrees, however, that the White House is seeking to draw as sharp a distinction between Republicans and Democrats on terrorism as possible, something it has done skillfully in the past two election cycles. And so far this year it has lived up to its reputation of being particularly adept at using carefully chosen language to cast its opponents as unflatteringly as possible -- and to define their positions for voters before they can define them themselves."

Rutenberg offers a fascinating, insider's perspective: "Adam Levine, a former assistant press secretary for Mr. Bush, described the process as taking opponents' positions to their logical conclusions.

"'The way that it works is, you take the other side's view, and you articulate what it sounds like to you,' Mr. Levine said. 'It also is effective rhetorically because it at least on its face acknowledges the other side's argument, even if it is an extreme version of it.'"

But Rutenberg basically writes off Bush's behavior as standard operating procedure in the long history of heated political discourse. And that misses the point. What's going on here is not the standard criticism, or even insulting, of opponents. There's something more widespread and deceptive about it.

Here are just a couple more recent examples:

Sept. 15 : "I would hope people aren't trying to rewrite the history of Saddam Hussein -- all of a sudden, he becomes kind of a benevolent fellow."

Sept. 11 : "Whatever mistakes have been made in Iraq, the worst mistake would be to think that if we pulled out, the terrorists would leave us alone."

Also see some of my previous " Straw Man Watch " items.

Jennifer Loven of the Associated Press did a better job on this story back in March, when she wrote: "When the president starts a sentence with 'some say' or offers up what 'some in Washington' believe, as he is doing more often these days, a rhetorical retort almost assuredly follows.

"The device usually is code for Democrats or other White House opponents. In describing what they advocate, Mr. Bush often omits an important nuance or substitutes an extreme stance that bears little resemblance to their actual position.