No, it doesn't. It's a rhetorical device. Do you want to also ban "it's obvious/evident/clear/patent that...", "we all know that...", "everybody agrees that...", "it is undeniable that...", etc.? What bugs me, however, is people mindlessly complaining about these things (not the first time I come across this one, btw.). Anyway, I hope that answer your question :-)
P.S. Not 100% confident about the placement of the commas between the quotations there, so feel free to comment on it if you think they're wrong.