Links to rhetorical tools:

Here are links to the rhetorical tools used in this class:

Schemes & Tropes -- Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca -- Fallacies -- Burke -- Rhetorical Toolbox -- Conspiracy Rhetorics

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Jason Rosenbaum and Jeb Bush


Fallacy
Quote/Evidence
Analysis
Quantifier Shift

“In all her record-setting travels, Hillary Clinton stopped by Iraq exactly once.”
As Secretary of State, Clinton traveled a great deal but she only traveled to Iraq once meaning she clearly doesn’t care about the country of Iraq, the people there or our military stationed there. The website emphasizes this with “record-setting.”
Wishful Thinking
“Our ultimate goal in Syria is to defeat ISIS and to achieve long-term political stability in that country.”
That’s the plan, however unlikely it is to happen it is still a thing.

“We must over time establish multiple safe zones, and along with our partners, a no-fly zone in Syria.
The likelihood of being able to do this is pretty slim at the current moment in time, but this would be ideal for regaining order in the country.
Appeal to Consequences
“Defeating ISIS requires defeating Assad, whose war against his own people - backed by Iran - has let nearly 300000 people dead and spurred a massive refugee crisis.”
Look at all the terrible things that have happened because of this! We must put a stop to it or else it could get much worse.
Appeal to Fear
“We cannot repeat President Obama and Hillary Clinton’s mistake in Libya, and must ensure Assad’s regime is not replaced by something as bad or worse.”
The worst is yet to come… the evil must be stopped and only Jeb can! He won’t make the same mistake Obama and Hillary made. He’s going to defeat the bad guys and make sure nothing worse spawns from their defeat.

“Defeating ISIS requires defeating Assad, whose war against his own people - backed by Iran - has let nearly 300000 people dead and spurred a massive refugee crisis.”
Jeb is appealing to the fear of the refugee crisis. NIMBY (not in my back yard) is the mindset of many countries in the European Union as well as some people in the U.S. They do not want more and more refugees crossing their borders and taking their jobs, money and supplies.
Guilt by Association
“Defeating ISIS requires defeating Assad, whose war against his own people - backed by Iran - has let nearly 300000 people dead and spurred a massive refugee crisis.”
Iran is the bad guy they are being associated with. Jeb is straight up calling out Iran. Iran is the one supplying our enemies so they too should be viewed as an enemy. U.S. citizens are already weary of Iran due to their nuclear program and this is adding another layer to the “we don’t like Iran cake.”

 


Fallacy
Quote
Analysis
Successive/Decisive
“I will actively support school choice programs, such as school vouchers and charter schools, so every student has the opportunity to fully realize his or her God-given potential”
If you vote for Ben, your kids will have opportunity so show their skills, not just any skills though, there God- given skills! He had to putt God into this quote to seem more down to Earth and attract certain people.
Values/Abstract
“In education, as in so many endeavors, the best decisions are the ones made by those closest to the issue. I will work to directly support students, cut red tape and reduce the size and authority of the Washington educational bureaucracy.”
He doesn’t give exact issues that he’s going to fix. You’re just supposed to believe that he will fix these issues, but you have to vote for him. He will also help your kids. Don’t forget the kids.
Presence/Repetition
“students”
He repeats students, over and over again. Another word he adds is “educators.” He wants the citizens to make sure that they know he’s for the students and for the education of the U.S, but he repeats it so much it almost sounds robotic.
Inclusion
“It is long past the time to give teachers the respect and the resources they deserve. Instead of an outdated system that rewards teacher tenure over performance, I will advocate for flexible block grants to the states to advance and reward teacher quality, and to develop teacher evaluation systems that focus on effectiveness in advancing student achievement.”
He adds the teachers in this because they are part of a bigger whole of education. He wants to make sure that we know he gives credit to all the teachers and wants to reward them with what they deserve. He wants to help teachers achieve so the kids will.
Consolidation
“The Department of Education needs to get out of the lending business. We need a simpler, more streamlined and transparent financial aid process that gives students and their families the kind of simple, reliable information they need to make good decisions.”
A is okay by itself but with propaganda will help this issue succeed.  Simpler is better.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Chris Christie Fallacy Blog Post by Andrea Rogan


Fallacies – Candidate Chris Christie
Fallacy
Quote/Paraphrase
Analysis
Black/white
“Christie is also calling for ending the current dysfunctional, ad-hoc approach for implementing drug courts being used on the federal level and as President, would make drug court mandatory in all 94 federal districts.”
This seems to imply that there are only two solutions – what is going on today and Christie’s alternative of drug court. By requiring the use of drug courts across the US, he seems to be saying that this is the “right” way.
Guilt by Association
“The era in which the Obama administration tries to accomplish its ideological goals through the regulatory state must end.”
Christie goes on to talk about revoking all of Obama’s executive orders. He seems to be saying that if it was done under Obama, it must be bad.  Anything he or his staff did should be eliminated.
Ad Hominem (an irrelevant attack on a person makes one of their arguments false)
Or Guilt by Association
“It is disgraceful the way there are folks in Washington who want American intelligence weaker and less informed just to drive their own personal political agendas. Protecting our homeland must be an uncompromising priority.”
Christie seems to be saying that recent budget cuts in the Intelligence area are a result of normal Washington politics.  His attack on the people who have political agendas implies that any of their actions are bad just because they are part of an agenda.
Poisoning the well (?)
A Newark contract for teachers provides raises and bonuses based in part on student performance.
Christie seems to be saying this is a great thing.  In some places, this has led to cheating and other dishonest practices.
Appeal to Consequences
“Governor Christie laid out a plan focused on keeping communities safe while helping non-violent offenders reclaim their lives.”
Christie is painting a positive picture.  Everyone wants a safe community, so he is painting a positive picture of results.  For those who believe that the punishments for certain crimes are too harsh, he is offering a way to help people become self sufficient again.
Appeal to Consequences
Prisoners need access to educational and training opportunities so they can get skills to get jobs. “Re-entering the workforce is a critical step for ex-offenders to reintegrate into their communities and lead productive lives.”
Many people believe that there are too many people in prisons.  By giving them skills and a chance for jobs, Christie is painting a very nice picture of a better future.  (There could also be a false cause and/or bandwagon argument here – it is hard to know because there are no specifics or examples given as to why Christie believes this.
Appeal to Fear
A strong military will help us “deal with the threats we face.” It will also help “eliminate them before we even see them.”
Given what is going on with ISIS, terrorists and the war, there is a lot of fear among many people.  He is using that fear to say that we need to give the military more money.  If we do not, he implies that we could lose.
Bandwagon
For Social Security, Christie says that if Americans “are fortunate enough not to need it, they will have paid into a system that will continue to help Americans who need it most.” For medicare, Christie wants to “(expand) the existing sliding scale for …premiums.”
Both of these ideas seem to be saying that Christie will take benefits away from the rich.  This seems to be a popular Robinhood idea – take from the rich to help the poor.
Emotional Appeal and Bandwagon
“Tenure for teachers should be awarded and retained based on performance.”
This is a very popular idea that only the best teachers who keep up with the latest techniques and who bring energy to their classes should be kept.  You cannot stay on just because you have experience.  It is an emotional appeal because it sounds fair to all teachers – if you work hard and do a good job, then you will be rewarded.
Emotional appeal
Christie wants to give more money to the military so the “men and women in uniform (have) the resources they need to get the job done.”
Christie seems to be saying that we are making individuals serving in the military have a hard time doing their job because we are not giving them all the tools or training they need to be successful. He is trying to get us to see that they are acting on our behalf and they need our support in order to be successful. Since they are working for us, how can we deny them stuff?
Appeal to Consequences and Emotional appeal
In talking about taxes, Christie wants to “lower individual tax rates for every American while unleashing the nation’s growth potential.” He wants a “flatter, fairer and simpler ..tax system.”
“Unleashing growth potential” sounds like a great result.  With all the hard economic times, this sounds like a positive move. Anything that is fair is always appealing to people. I have never had to do taxes, but simplifying them also sounds like it would appeal to people.
Unrepresentative sample.
“Enrollment in New Jersey’s Inter-District School Choice Program increased more than 5-fold” and “The Christie administration has increased the overall number of charter schools in New Jersey to 87, serving 37,500 students.”
The number of charter schools seems very small for a state with as many students as New Jersey has.  The information on the school choice program does not give a starting point, so it is unclear if it is very big or not.  They both seem to be very small examples.
Cum Hoc (2 things that happened together must have a causal relationship).
Christie helped the Camden NJ community revamp the way police interact in the community.  Violent crime has gone down by 22%, and homicides have gone down by 51%.
Christie is claiming that the crime rate has gone down because of the way that the Camden police department was changed.
Post Hoc (a thing that happens before another thing caused that).
“Ban the Box” – Christie wants to make employers stop asking if someone has been convicted of a crime before they have been interviewed.
Christie seems to be assuming that many ex-criminals would get more jobs if they did not have to tell their potential employer of their past offenses.
Redefinition
Christie refers to the US in the past as the “arsenal of democracy”.
He is expressing his opinion that we are the keeper of democracy around the world.  The word arsenal usually refers to a group of weapons or an array of resources. This term as used here means that we have the most weapons and have been willing to use them to give other countries a chance to have a democracy – so we will use our weapons for others who are fighting for freedom.


Monday, February 8, 2016

Presidential Candidates For the Argument Project

First to claim them in comments gets them. It is okay if the candidate you chose drops out. You can use the Wayback Machine to fetch their issues page if they remove their website.

Democrats:

1. Hillary Clinton
2. Bernie Sanders
3. Martin O'Malley

Republicans:

4. Donald Trump
5. Ted Cruz
6. Marco Rubio
7. Ben Carson
8. Chris Christie
9. Jeb Bush
10. John Kasich
11. Carly Fiorina
12. Rand Paul
13. Mike Huckabee
14. Jim Gilmore

Other parties:

15. Bob Whitaker
16. Farley Anderson
17. Gloria LaRiva
18. Chris Keniston
19. Joy Waymire
20. Jim Hedges