Hi everyone. I wish I could be in class tonight to discuss some of the blog posts that I haven't had time to respond to, but some personal stuff has come up and I can't be there. I am overwhelmed at the amount of material we have had to read and I am wayyyyyyy behind on that so maybe it's a good thing I can't be in class. You guys would be showing me up like crazy. I have never liked Ramage but I have read his book before and thought he was an ass. As I scan back through it, I've found some interesting things that make me think he may not be such a bad guy after all. It's just such tedious writing!

Alright, first I wanted to talk about Bush's State of the Union Address. I think Bush is about the most worthless President we've ever had, so this made me laugh. Sorry to all the Republicans in class (if there are any). Wait, I think I hear the CIA breaking down my door. Wouldn't that be insane?! Rhetoric is killing me. It really is. There are so many fa sits that I can't begin to grasp everything. But at the same time it's all common knowledge. For instance, during the Union Address. It's pretty crafty to have your audience keep clapping after everything you say during the beginning of your speech, Mr. Bush. It keeps the people gungho (I don't even know if that's really a word and if it is I'm sure I spelled it wrong) about what you're saying, even if the words coming from your mouth are pure crap. But the audience doesn't recognize that because there is too much excitement in the air and some people (like myself) just like to clap. But the whole address to the country kept changing. Soon after it began, the clapping became more erratic and spaced out. Toward the end of his speech "the president begins a long narrative, over 900 uninterrupted words, enumerating the evidence of Saddam Hussein's duplicity and evil intentions. In contrast to earlier "sound-bite" proclamations, this applause-free interval frames the passage in a lengthy, steepled silence that implies a rapt audience hanging on every word and lends great weight to the president's words." Hahaha, oh god I love it..."great weight." Wow. I feel awful for the person who actually had to count how many words there were before the audience clapped. I'm sorry, but I don't understand how just because someone else is clapping that you would be on the edge of your seat. I get how a person's ears would perk up, but is someone really going to follow and believe what someone else says just because some jerk in the back row begins a wave of clapping? It's just clapping people. Two hands hitting each other. But it works and that amazes me.

Rhetoric isn't a bad thing. I don't think persuasion is either. It's like that saying "Guns don't kill, people do." If someone wants to use rhetoric in an evil way then that's his or her prerogative. However, should rhetoric fall in the hands of the wrong person, well...it's chaos, it's controversy, it's...the Bush administration! I'm going to get arrested. All I'm trying to say is that rhetoric can be used as a tool to help or hurt. It only takes one person to spoil a good thing. I suppose that's all the anger my body can take for one day. As soon as I get caught up on the reading, I will post more. Perhaps it won't be quite so opinionated. Although, that's very unlikely...ask Dr. Mahoney.