I counted it a strong possibility that last night’s debate would not happen. In the negotiations, it seemed to me that the Trump team was looking to introduce loopholes for him to escape through, but clearly I was mistaken. I’m glad because I think it was a really important event, though perhaps not for the … Continue reading Harris Debates Trump, Apparently with Dire Predictions for Ohio’s Housepets: Some Thoughts (and Worries)
Category: rhetoric
Hitler’s Rhetoric, A Rejection Report (August 2024)
This check-in is a report on a certain kind of failure--specifically, a failure to find a trade publisher for Hitler's Rhetoric. If you've been following along at home, you're no doubt aware that at the very end of November 2023, I sent my book pitch around to about 20 agents. I had interest from a … Continue reading Hitler’s Rhetoric, A Rejection Report (August 2024)
Hitler’s Rhetoric, A Progress Report (Dec. 2022)
While I don't generally consider myself someone who appreciates the mathematical arts to the same degree I appreciate the linguistic ones, I nevertheless tend to take a significant amount of comfort in quantifying progress on nebulous and/or extended projects. This is a quick quantification of some of the progress I've made on the book I'm … Continue reading Hitler’s Rhetoric, A Progress Report (Dec. 2022)
Are You Really Going to Make Me Defend Hitler? Style, Grammar, and Usage Edition
By equating good language with good people and bad language with bad people, we trick ourselves into believing that we (that is, people who use language well) could never fall for someone like Hitler.
A Too-Long Reflection on Being a “Leader in the Field”
Last week, I finished co-facilitating the 2021 Rhetoric Society of America Summer Institute seminar, “Rhetoric in Dark Times.” It was a career goal I never really expected to reach, and it was everything I hoped it would be. But the experience also got me thinking anew about the somewhat vexed transition points in academic careers … Continue reading A Too-Long Reflection on Being a “Leader in the Field”
Why is Trump Covering Up Jamal Khashoggi’s Murder?
Jamal Khashoggi is dead. The journalist was murdered on October 2, 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Turkey. The available evidence suggests with increasing certainty that it was plotted and carried out by members of Saudi crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman’s, coterie of advisors and confidantes. The scandal over Khashoggi’s murder has only grown over … Continue reading Why is Trump Covering Up Jamal Khashoggi’s Murder?
Is Brett Kavanaugh a “Good Man”? Does it Matter?
Brett Kavanaugh's "goodness" was treated by his supporters as more relevant to his qualifications to be on SCOTUS than his experience and/or judicial record.
The Revolting Logic of Joseph Epstein’s “Unpromising Title”
Doctor Jill Biden wrote and defended a doctoral dissertation in 2007—the crowning achievement of an advanced educational process that entitles a person to the professional title, “Doctor.” Hence, her title. On December 11, 2020, noted literary arbiter and cultural critic, mister Joseph Epstein, declared Biden’s professional distinction “fraudulent, not to say a touch comic” in … Continue reading The Revolting Logic of Joseph Epstein’s “Unpromising Title”
The Russian Trolls Are Hard at Work: Progressives and Leftists Edition
At the beginning of September, Facebook announced that they suspended five accounts affiliated with “Peace Data,” a news website launched by Russia’s social media propaganda wing, the Internet Research Agency. The IRA, of course, was instrumental in the Russian disinformation campaigns in the run-up to the 2016 election. This year, they even hired unwitting American … Continue reading The Russian Trolls Are Hard at Work: Progressives and Leftists Edition
No, You’re Hitler!: A History and a Proposal
In 1953, famed political philosopher and Jewish-German exile, Leo Strauss, coined a term to describe a trope that he increasingly saw circulating in public discourse: reductio ad Hilterum. Reductio ad Hitlerum is a fallacy used in arguments to discredit anything that can be associated with or compared to Hitler. Hitler liked dogs? Then liking dogs … Continue reading No, You’re Hitler!: A History and a Proposal
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