Conservatism has fallen apart over the last decade (plus), as the TheoCons and NeoCons have taken over the intellectual roots of the movement founded in the postwar years. Here is a useful and well composed narrative of the break between the coalition.
Posted in Conservatism, Political Rhetoric | Tagged CATO Institute | Leave a Comment »
My latest post on GOPinsantity, the news aggregator blog, a watchdog against nutty “conservatives” (quotes intentional) who are wrecking the once respectable conservative movement. Did you know that some actual conservatives see the hypocrisy in the the party’s current rhetoric about budget deficits?
Posted in Conservatism | Tagged Bruce Bartlett, Conservatives, Republicans, rhetoric, Ronald Reagan | Leave a Comment »
It might have been a bit more “Hardball” than NPR is used to, but I went toe-to-toe today with the anti-science Republicans in North Carolina over their rewriting of the state Environment Department’s rewriting of their mission statement.
The full interview is available here.
Posted in Conservatism, Political Rhetoric | Tagged Environmental Rhetoric, Pat McCrory | Leave a Comment »
We saw a great film recently, with a plotline deeply concerned with politics and rhetoric. The film “No” is a Chilean production and is a artistically-liscensed treatment of the 1988 referendum on the Pinochet regime. The protagonist, a communications consultant, argues against using the opposition’s limited airtime to show images of the regime’s brutality — in favor of sunny images of democracy as “allegria” (happiness). In watching I was reminded of the scene from George Orwell’s 1984 in which Winston Smith is tortured not literally, but virtually — with interrogators telling him his worst fears were behind the door of room 101…but never opening the door. In this case, the Chilean people did not need the door opened, for they knew all too well what was behind it. Show them the opposite, the protagonist argues, and they will see behind the door. It’s a brilliant piece of filmmaking, not to mention an exposition of rhetorical theory.
Posted in Nonverbal rhetoric, Political Rhetoric | Tagged Chile, Movies, Pinochet, rhetoric | Leave a Comment »
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Conservatives, MSNBC, POLITICO, Republicans, rhetoric, Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh, tea party | Leave a Comment »
There is a rhetorical battle going on in Washington over the word “balanced.” In his excellent POLITICO article published today, Jonathan Allen explains how both sides in the budget battle are trying control the word’s meaning in the ongoing fiscal debate. As Allen writes, one sides wants to talk about ”balanced budget” while the other wants a “balanced approach.”
Posted in Political Rhetoric | Tagged Budget, Paul Ryan, Republicans, rhetoric | Leave a Comment »
My review, published yesterday in the Greensboro News & Record, of William Chafe’s joint biography of Bill and Hillary Clinton. A solid piece of work with some provocative analysis of the personal and public lives of these two remarkable partners in power.
And yes, that’s the Clintons. (Great hair, Bill!) Chafe’s book has no photo section, so I dug around to find this one, used in the Salon article by Chafe about the various stories concerning the Clintons’ first meeting, at Yale in 1970.
Posted in Political Rhetoric | Tagged Bill Clinton, Controversies, Hillary Clinton | Leave a Comment »
