Contrarianism & The Straw-Man Dialectic
Kinsley:
Ayers threw a fund-raising party for Obama. They sat together on the board of a community group. Is this association between Obama and these dangerous radicals a scandal? Or is the scandal digging up all this ancient history? Those have been the options in the debate. But the truth is a third option: Ayers and Dohrn are despicable, and yet making an issue of Obama's relationship with them is absurd.
But how exactly does the "third option" differ from the "second option?" Aren't the two completely compatible? Is there really a group subscribing to "second option" that does not subscribe to "third option?" Are there really liberals out there defending Ayers's acts of violence, or are they a figment of Kinsley's imagination, something he's invented in order to triangulate off?
Isn't this a perfect example of the straw-man dialectic that afflicts our beloved "contrarian" pundits?
Ayers threw a fund-raising party for Obama. They sat together on the board of a community group. Is this association between Obama and these dangerous radicals a scandal? Or is the scandal digging up all this ancient history? Those have been the options in the debate. But the truth is a third option: Ayers and Dohrn are despicable, and yet making an issue of Obama's relationship with them is absurd.
But how exactly does the "third option" differ from the "second option?" Aren't the two completely compatible? Is there really a group subscribing to "second option" that does not subscribe to "third option?" Are there really liberals out there defending Ayers's acts of violence, or are they a figment of Kinsley's imagination, something he's invented in order to triangulate off?
Isn't this a perfect example of the straw-man dialectic that afflicts our beloved "contrarian" pundits?
posted by hellisotherpeople at 4:50 PM
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