Category Archives: Rhetorical Mastery

Donald Trump’s Rhetorical Demonology

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The rhetorical sleight of hand that turns individuals or nations into objects of scorn is not that unusual. But it is crippling to a nation when a leader charged with serving the public makes it his signature style.

Would we be naïve to assume that political discourse should be centered on questions of policy? Perhaps. But most individuals who want to serve in the political arena have action plans they would like to apply to intransigent problems. The language that results is usually melioristic; it suggests improved conditions for many, meaning the action would be better, more effective, more efficient in moving the nation (county, town, state) forward. If this is not what politics is about, what is left is a mostly a pathetic form of performance art.

Donald Trump’s rhetoric unfortunately fits this darker pattern, being almost consistently adversarial, reducing even structural problems to individual action, and resting most heavily on a rhetoric of personal invective. It is his dominant and recurring rhetorical motif. Any expression of opponents undergoes a transformation into a demonology of vilification. If half the nation is weary of his presence on the national scene, it is because he has personalized nearly every discussion by turning it into gladiatorial contest using terms that savage doubters. It is a binary logic that results in threatened lawsuits against journalists, media operators and sometimes members of his own party. Pick a national figure who must work with Trump and, as in a schoolyard taunt, their given names are prefaced with infantile adjectives or nouns: “dopey,” “Lyin,’” “fat,” “crooked,” “shady,” “slimeball,” “ditzy” “birdbrain,” and so on. It’s as if Trump acquired a kind of verbal aphasia that made him incapable of learning the art of conversation. No wonder that those who know him well says that he really has no friends. What is left is the brash language of a Las Vegas comedian, often with a touch of menace reminiscent of a crime boss in an old Warner Brothers film. Just through 2021, the New York Times had catalogued nearly 10,000 insults Trump hurled at his opponents, often in his party, and often made while he was President the first time. A sample describing Robert Mueller’s investigative team appointed by the Department of Justice:

A “gang of treasonous thugs,”
“18 Angry Democrats”

“illegally in on the SCAM?”

“losers”

a “hit squad”

These are mild compared to hundreds of other samples that could be cited. Even so, these labels are wounding to those singled out as enemies of the state.

Even an advisory that this President us mostly unfit to be heard by children would not out of line.

The hortatory language of political persuasion was never meant to rest on ad hominem put downs. Ad hominem comments (attacks on an individual rather than their ideas) reside in a dark cellar of public discourse. They play surprisingly well to television viewers accustomed to the melodramatic language of the streets. But this language is a tedious crutch that conceals Trump’s incompetence at explaining policy on its own terms,

The rhetorical sleight of hand that turns individuals into objects of scorn is not completely unusual in American political rhetoric. But when used by a leader formally charged with serving the needs of a vast nation, it is crippling to all of us. Think of how Trump has already treated our friends in Canada, deconstructing an important relationship built over decades. In contrast, the norm for virtually every President has been to celebrate the citizenry rather than hide behind childish put-downs. All modern presidents have attempted to offer hope and words that inspire. Their body language is usually open, not aggressive. It would not “old fashioned” to ask this leader to give his discussions a degree of dignity. This approach is an essential attribute of problem-solvers who seek to reduce their differences with others by sticking to transcendant rather than divisive terms.

Studies indicate that the president is the first public official children recognize. It might seem like a joke, but an advisory that this President is mostly unfit to be seen and heard by children would not be out of line. It is something the American Academy of Pediatrics might consider, since they are interested in media effects on younger Americans. Sadly, many in the nation are only too happy to be entertained by the performances.

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The Self-Reveal of Russian Meddling

Problem Practices, Rhetorical Mastery, , , , ,

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There is irony in a nation that prohibits multiple political voices while employing the black arts of disinformation to sabotage the discourse of others.

After every election cycle we get reports of various Russian operatives flooding American social media with disinformation. Fabricated stories, videos and interviews flow freely into the nervous system of the culture, with little interest at X and other sites to block these toxic and doubt-inducing attempts to weaken the body politic. This has again been the pattern for quite a long time. Among the egregious hits were interviews with “Americans” claiming voter fraud in Arizona, an image ostensibly showing Haitians voting in Georgia, and a video of ballots being destroyed in Pennsylvania. China and Iran were involved as well, especially in congressional races. But Russia–which does not make things that the rest of the world wants–specializes in this kind of export. Similar attempts at interference can also be seen  to Germany, the U.K. and, most recently, at the Paris Summer games.

How effective these message are is difficult to gauge. They are often fronted by figures who have lived in the United States, so they appear as just another segment of influence- peddling by other Americans.

Of course foreign writers are free to find ways to reach the American people. In any open society there needs to be space for a variety of voices. But it is obviously deceptive to pose as an American while delivering some fiction alleging a governmental or campaign misadventure. As we have seen, we do it to each other all the time, with some political operatives barely able to cling to real-world realities on the ground. As we know well, it is usually within an American’s rights to be wrong.

Presumably, the Kremlin believes it can weaken the resolve of segment of the public by passing on “news” or “information” that Americans would find dispiriting to read. In more human terms, this meddling seems like a spectator throwing sand on the ice in front of a world-class skater. And there is the irony of a country that will not allow multiple political voices within its borders to employ the black arts of informational sabotage to foul the discourse of others.

We can always invoke the famous quote attributed to Mark Twain that “a lie can travel halfway around the world before the truth puts on its shoes.” Whoever said it, it is a great thought, and a reminder that so many of us are disabled by the tendency to accept misinformation before doing even a little truth-testing.  Russia is an easy villain. But who can blame our foes when so many Americans contribute their own political lies, and so many are ready to consider them.