Six years in, there can be no doubt President Obama is winning decisively in his war on any and all straw men who cross his path.
Why are opponents of Obamacare "working so hard" to stop people from having insurance? Why are others "so eager" to use military force? "What's wrong with helping young people get ahead?" These are all questions Obama has posed.
"We reject the belief that Americans must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future," he declared during his second inaugural address, a false choice if there ever was one.
Then there are his "there are those who" remarks, where Obama lays out—before a partisan, friendly audience—something no one's ever stated that's utterly silly and then refutes said silly belief. "There are those who say we cannot afford to invest in science." "There are those who say these plans are too ambitious. We should be trying to do less, not more." "There are those who embrace a view that can be summarized in two words: Anything goes."
This method was also on stark display during his 2012 reelection campaign while trying to defeat Republican Mitt Romney.
"We've been told by our opponents that bigger tax cuts and fewer regulations are the only way," Obama said during the Democratic National Convention.
That's not to mention his straw man methods to defend his foreign policy. Not "every problem has a military solution," Obama told West Point graduates last month, as if that was not obvious.
"Enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war," Obama remarked in his second inaugural.
Fighting arguments that do not exist and words never said, the White House is, to quote Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, "living in a world of reality."