Hey...Its All Politics

As bad as it does sound, I hate politics. I was never one to get into all the debates or watch the Presidential Addresses. To me, they were all more of an annoyance than something I should make time to be aware of. I disliked the fact that all that political candidates do is make empty promises that no one can guarantee will come true and to bash each other with no remorse. I never realized it was all part of speech strategy until I read the chapter in “Everything’s an Argument” and then browsed some of the political blog sites.

The site I choose to explore is http://wonkette.com/. At first, I was thoroughly confused. I had no idea what the site was about, or how to see what was going on behind all the photos and captions. Truthfully, I was ready to write of the assignment because I had no idea what to do, or even what the site was trying to say. But then I started to click around a little bit more, trying to forget my initial confusion to figure things out. And I realized the site is kind of like a huge blog. A photograph is posted with a caption or news story, and then people can comment on what had been written or was is going on in the world.

The author of the site pretty much lets people go where they want to go. These people post the main idea or topic they want to discuss and then let people go. Its not really a site where the author points out a set point or critiques other sites. Instead, they just post their own opinions, then allow comments. I think this is why I found the site so confusing at first. It is a jumble of links, each going in a different direction or idea. And nothing is definite. It is kind of a place where people can go to just bash or state opinions about what is happening in the political world.

One thing I did notice is that the authors use some of the techniques discussed in the textbook. No, they do not point out when one of these techniques is used in the news or in debates. Nor do they really explain what is going on. Instead, the authors write the little jabs out and assume the reader will understand the message. For example, one of the links I clicked on was about Hillary Clinton and the speech she gave where she “lost her voice and cried about it.” The author of this post put a photograph of Hillary speaking with the caption describing what happened. Then the jab “make no mistake, these tears were real, because the only thing the Clintons will truly cry about is not being able to hear the sound of their own voice.” This is a perfect example of ad hominem, where the author takes a jab at Hillary’s character to prove a point. The author is trying to say that the Clintons only care about themselves and their own opinions, no matter what the case.

The wonkette site has several different listings and blogs where people share their thoughts on political happenings. Each is different and individual, though with the ones I clicked on, none really pointed to direct fallacies in arguments. They used them, to be sure, but did not try to point out when others used them. It is interesting to see how people will twist what is said in the media though, to fit what he or she wants to hear. There were several instances where I clicked on a recent happening to see someone going on about how horrible a comment another person said/wrote was. But when I saw that same news clip, I thought something entirely different. It is kind of like the Straw Man detailed in the book. Someone will take a weak spot in an argument and completely blow it up or twist it to support their own thoughts.

I still do not like politics. I hate when people use these kinds of tricks to get what they want and to made people feel bad. Twisting around words, bashing someone’s character…they are all low tricks that should not be resorted to. Especially by those who have a chance to lead our government. People need an honest leader, one who knows values and does not need to stoop to with. But, it all goes with a grain of salt. One has to know and use these tactics to fight against other people who use them. I still believe, be it naïve or not, that these tactics should not be used. Known about, yes. One has to know them to fight them. But not used.