And One More Thing...
In that National Review posting I referenced before, Freddoso concludes with the following warning about the liberal fascists coming to destroy your economy-
This is part of the "new direction" for America. Inflate of the price of cars, fuel, and food. Justify it by scaring people with hyperbolic, doomsday predictions about unknown (and mostly unknowable) future effects of global warming. Throw in the doubtful proposition that incremental steps like this can do anything to stop global warming, and you might fool some people into thinking that it's worth accepting an economy they can't afford to live in.
A beautiful strawman; I won't waste time knocking it down. Instead, I offer this revision-
This is part of the "new direction" for America. Inflate the threat of terrorism. Justify it by scaring people with hyperbolic, doomsday predictions about mushroom clouds and (and mostly unknowable) possible future attacks. Throw in the doubtful proposition that undemocratic steps like sidestepping the courts or Congress, secret prisons, torture, and preemptive wars can do anything to stop potential threats, and you might fool some people into thinking that it's worth sacrificing their liberties and freedoms for.
I can only imagine Mr. Freddoso's outrage at a party that behaved like that.
posted by BlueDuck @ 6:44 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
It's not a straw man. And in fact, I agree with your modified version as well, even though it's totally irrelevant. --DF
I see it as a strawman in the sense that what he is saying-- that liberals want to raise the price of cars and fuel and food in order to take American in some scary Orwellian "new direction"-- is not actually some any liberal/Democratic person is suggesting or doing. Could higher food costs, for instance, be an unintended consequence of energy policy? Sure. But it's not policy to make that happen, nor is part of some larger scheme.
Conservatives, by contrast, have made it their official policy in the last 6 years to use fears over terrorism (and exaggerated threats) to institute desired policies and political outcomes. It's fundamentally changed what American has been.
And to question that is dangerous, because it might open you to accusations of being unamerican and coddling terrorists, etc. But try and suggest even modest changes to deal with climate and energy concerns, and conservatives freak out.
It's silly and hypocritical. That's really what I was getting at here.
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