Everybody writes about President Trump. Especially Trump.
Rhetoric Referee: Mastering the debate game
American political campaigns have devolved into a great, nationwide reality game show whose two-year seasons seem endless. The winner of the last presidential election was, in fact, the celebrity host and producer of a popular elimination reality game show. Donald Trump knows how to play the game to win. Now …
Rhetoric Referee: The Curious Kavanaugh Case
To wrap up the last two postings, the controversy over the nomination of Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court provided high political drama just weeks before the mid-term elections. Americans generally don’t understand judicial theory and philosophy, but they do understand politics, at least as far as …
Rhetoric Referee: Changing the Subject
The nomination of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh (see previous post) gave opponents an opportunity to use two tried-and-true (or perhaps false) rhetorical techniques: ad hominem and changing the subject. The real subject of this nomination fight was whether the Supreme Court should seek to expand the law of …