Philosophy Rhetoric Essay

For those politicians who find themselves faced with a question whose say may be distressing to their audience, there is no substitute for the mightiness of rhetoric The light-as-air rhetoric politicians tend to give in response to every question regarding national identity is a fine example. Asked what it is to be an American, virtually politicians will appeal to emotion with reflexes so skilled and precise that a kung-fu master would be hard-pressed to imitate them. Where logic is concerned, the rhetorical replies to this manikin of question often begs many others.The politician will surely retort using words such as hope, values, family and assent but be those words even useful as descriptions? Do they speak to the unfeigned experience of being an American or do they speak to some of the notions in which many find great easiness? How much of any politicians answer to this question is ritual and how much actual response? And, most importantly, are those things really char acteristic of Americans or are they things Americans like to think about themselves, reality notwithstanding? Where a reasonable, lucid answer to the question of what it means to be American may be pages long and the subject of spirited debatenot to mention heavily influenced by the time in which the question was poseda rhetorical answer provides an easy dodge that leaves the politician with a faint blaze of patriotism, the great persuader who is so often summoned by way of such simple rhetoric.