Democratic Primaries

There are two actual usages of 'strawman', one legitimate, the other less so.

At times, a person will state a position incoherently, or will refuse to state a position while assailing an opponent. In such cases, it is quite legitimate to make an honest attempt to decipher, or to deduce, an opponent's position, then state the result and engage it. This is certainly a legitimate usage of a 'strawman', and no fallacy at all.

The less legitimate usage is to simply create out of whole cloth a position which one would like to argue with, which does not honestly reflect an opponent's views, or at least does not much overlap with them. I suppose it is this usage you intend to convey.

What you are chanting 'strawman strawman strawman' at, however, is simply reportage. It is a description of a pattern of human behavior, commonly observed in many situations. People get through this world by employment of their faculties, by use of 'intelligence guided by experience' to understand what is going on around them. My 'intelligence guided by experience' leads me to the conclusions stated above. It does so by observation of one leading personage, and of many expressions of support for him, some which cheer him on, and others which denigrate those who do not agree and support him. It does not engage the arguments supporters present for support of him, or the arguments supporters press against those who oppose him.

While it presents an unflattering picture, unflattering pictures are not by definition false constructs, or false in any way, merely because they do not gratify someone's vanity. The evident fact you do not like some statement is not evidence it is false. Since it is a characterization of a great mass of people, even if you feel it does not apply to you, that is insufficient to demonstrate it is false.

Perhaps it is not true for you. Perhaps you have no concern whatever with how people perceive you, and expect that Sanders if elected would sweep every proposal he desires through the Congress in a twinkling, due to the great revolutionary upsurge of popular support he would rally to the streets to overawe any opposition to his sweeping programs.

That last, by the way, is a strawman. It is hoped you perceive the difference, and which sort of strawman it is I leave to you and other readers here to decide.






"When things are not called by their right names, what is said cannot make sense. When what is said does not make sense, what is planned cannot succeed. When plans do not succeed, people become uneasy. When people are uneasy, punishments do not fit crimes. When punishments do not fit crimes, people cannot know where to put hand or foot."