Fiery Rhetoric

In the USA Today piece “Will Trump’s lows ever hit rock bottom?” (2017) written by their editorial board, they assert that President Trump is not fit for the presidency not because of his policy decisions, but due to a lack of decent ethics and morals and common decency. They attack the president with hard hitting comments, clearly pointing out his public sexist comments, his predator like behavior and the subsequent aggressive denial, and describing the man Donald Trump as “uniquely awful.” The board aggressively and assertively seeks to portray President Trump as a disgraceful man, let alone president, someone society should look down upon and someone unfit to preside over our one-of-a-kind country. The board speaks to the American people to clearly demonstrate that Trump and the presidency do not fit together.

Fiery rhetoric is a very powerful force, especially in popular and well read newspapers. When used properly, it can have an extremely strong and meaningful affect, but only in moderation. A constant emphasis on fiery, strong, and intense rhetoric can undermine the meaning of the impactful language. Many things are special because of how infrequently they occur, but when they occur in abundance we grow to take it for granted. Thus, an overuse of fiery rhetoric would take away its impact and importance, but a rare usage of such not only shows the passion, but it tells readers that this specific message is important. The USA Today is known for its middle school like articles and lack of opinion. Simply, they put the news on paper and nothing more. Thus, when their editorial board wrote and published such article they demonstrated the significance of their message, along with drawing readers in. They displayed that this message was noteworthy and a must-read. Furthermore, this type of rhetoric and tone plays an interesting role in the national conversation. While it has now become a mundane activity to poke fun and ridicule Trump on all of his actions, such aggressive and fiery tone indicates its importance in the national conversation, not just another comedic routine with Trump as the focus. Personally, while I take great joy from the various talk shows and late night comedians who mock Trump night after night, I believe that to truly make an impact a tone like the USA Today’s piece is essential. Those truly disgusted and appalled with Trump must speak up in a serious and fiery manner, not just through humor and laughter. Now don’t get me wrong, comedy is a great outlet to calm the nerves and the tensions many have with the pressing issues Trump and America have, but until real impactful action is taken, there will be no change. To truly spark a national conversation that will inspire change, the fiery tone that was embodied in the article is pivotal. In my own experience with rather fiery tone in writing a critical article on Trump’s national anthem comments, I was overjoyed when I received so much feedback, both the good and the bad, on a piece in a mere high school newspaper. I felt that I helped spark more conversation and perhaps change because of the strong and aggressive stance I took. It ruffled some feathers for better or worse, and thus passed the message along. Similarly, the USA Today editorial board refused to continue any longer without strongly defaming Trump. It sparked a conversation, and hopefully a subsequent change as well.

Comments

  1. AnonymousDecember 19, 2017 at 11:42 AM

    You're precis is pretty good. It's well written and you display you're grasp of the tone and prupose of the article. My only critique is in the last sentence, where you seem to establish that the audience is the American people, but don't establish the authors relationship with them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ashley BrownDecember 19, 2017 at 11:47 AM

    I really like how you talk about the ethos of USA Today and how THAT is what makes this bit of fiery rhetoric notable.

    ReplyDelete

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