NYT Helene Cooper - Is She Calling Newt Gingrich A Strawman Or Saying He Does Not Exist

[Median Democrat]

I was reading this article in the NY Times in which she says that Obama relied on the rhetorical device of addressing strawmen, which left me confused. I usually think of stawmen as arguments that no one is actually making, which are easy to rebut. However, here, as noted on Rachel Maddow last night, Newt Gingrich has been pushing the arguments that Obama was responding to? Is she calling Gingrich a straw man? Or, is it just bad composition?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/08/world/europe/08prexy.html?ref=global-home

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The road map refers to a 2003 outline of steps toward a peace agreement.

Mr. Obama, nearing the end of his maiden overseas trip, made an effort to connect with the young people assembled before him in Istanbul’s Tophane-I-Amire Hall, a centuries-old exhibition hall. He took questions from them about climate change, Turkey’s entry into the European Union and whether he was, deep down, more like President Bush than he admitted. (To that, Mr. Obama replied that changing United States policy was more like turning a tanker ship, and would take time.)

He often reverted to his favorite rhetorical devices — straw men — to make his points to the students. For instance, he said that “some people say that I’m being too idealistic” and ask him why he’s reaching out to Iranians, saying that trying to use diplomacy to stop Iran from getting a nuclear bomb is “too hard.”

“My attitude is all these things are hard,” Mr. Obama said. He added that he believed he still had to try.

“I am personally committed to a new chapter in American engagement,” Mr. Obama told the students, who sat in a tight circle around him. “We can’t afford to talk past one another and focus only on our differences, or to let the walls of mistrust go up around us.”

/snip

Here is Newt arguing that Obama should have ordered a preemptive attack on North Korea:

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In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," the Georgia Republican said the White House ought to take decisive action against North Korea, which has defied international pressures and launched a long-range rocket Sunday.

He said for years officials have all but begged North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program, but no administration has taken decisive action against Pyongyang.

"And one morning, just like 9/11, there's going to be a disaster, and people are going to look around and say, 'Gosh, why didn't anyone think of that?' Well, I'm telling you the time to think about it's before the disaster, not afterward," Gingrich said.

He said Obama should have ordered pre-emptive action to prevent North Korea from making its launch.

"He has some wonderful fantasy idea that we're going to have a great meeting next year," Gingrich said, referring to his desire to resume talks with the communist nation. "I just think it's very dangerous to have a fantasy foreign policy."

/snip