So we’ve most likely all heard about Donald Trump’s inquiries into President Obama’s citizenship. To give you the gist on the situation, Trump is demanding an actual birth certificate from Obama, just because. Obama was born in Hawaii, and their system of birth certificates is a little different from within the central part of the United States, but they do have some form of birth certification. Now that you know a little about the situation, I would like to give you some background information on my views of what a president is. In my opinion, a president is simply a figurehead. Of course, they sign off on important decisions, but I believe that their people behind the scenes make a huge contribution to those decisions, including the wants of American citizens. And I am certainly not belittling a president’s position or the committee behind the president, but rather I am stating that the country’s actions are not purely based off of one man’s decisions. Which brings me to my next point, Obama is a citizen of the United States, and he is really no different than you and I. He is simply human. He does not deserve the statements that are being directed toward him by Mr. Trump. I ask of you, would you like giving someone personal information on yourself, when that person is clearly out to get you. I most certainly would not, especially if I have the right not to show that information. Mr. Trump’s remarks can be considered to be a form of propaganda called card stacking, and Deborah Tannen, a linguistic professor, gives further insight into the likely reasons as to why Trump is requesting personal information on Obama.
Now, Trump’s remarks on Obama not really being a citizen of the United States is a form of card stacking, which is based off of the Institute for Propaganda Analysis, and their definition of card stacking. ““Card Stacking” is a device in which the propagandist employs all the arts of deception to win our support for himself, his group, nation, race, policy, practice, belief, or ideal” (Institute). This being the case, it seems fair to assume that Trump is doing is implementing this very action. You see, Trump wants to become president in the next election. What Trump is trying to do is use “the arts of deception to win support for himself”, and bring less support to Obama during election time (Institute). Next, “He uses under-emphasis and over-emphasis to doge issues and evades facts” (Institute). I don’t know how many of you have seen Mr. Trump talk, but whoa, watch out! There is a lot of over-emphasizing going on there. This over-emphasizing is shown clearly in a video interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie. Guthrie states that Trump is “out on an island on this issue”, and his rebuttal is overtly emphasized, even almost sassy (Guthrie). Finally, the Institute states that, “By means of [card stacking] propagandists would convince us that a ruthless war of aggression is a crusade for righteousness” (Institute). Trump has convinced many American citizens already based off of just inquiry into the matter. In fact, according to CNN “More than four in 10 Republicans … believe [Obama] probably or definitely was not born in America” (Tuchman). He has convinced these Republicans by the means of aggression toward the issue, and nothing more. He has made them believe that his actions are righteous. However, Trump is just a propagandist that has fooled those Republicans.
In “Taking TV’s “War of Words” Too Literally”, Deborah Tannen gives insight as to why Trump is inquiring on Obama’s birth certificate. I found that the soul basis of Tannen’s argument, ironically enough seeing as how her essay is about the argumentative ways of society, is that “Everywhere we turn, there is evidence that, in public discourse, we prize contentiousness and aggression more than cooperation and conciliation” (Tannen). Trump is definitely in this category, seeing as how he loves aggressive arguments. People like Trump, “don’t just portray their subjects warts and all, but set out to dig up as much dirt as possible, as if the story of a person’s life is contained in the warts, only the warts, and nothing but the warts” (Tannen). Trump is attacking President Obama, and is trying to portray him as a warty intruder, but instead Trump’s face is sprouting all sorts of warts. Furthermore, Tannen goes on saying, “It’s all part of what I call the argument culture, which rests on the assumption that opposition is the best way to get anything done”. Once again, this depicts Trump nicely seeing as how for no reason he is prying into the private life of Obama, which I may remind you is a human being like you and I. Trump is purposefully indulging in the argumentative culture. Certainly, he believes “The best way to begin an essay is to attack someone” (Tannen). That is who Trump is, and why he is consistently questioning the President of his citizenship, he is part of the argumentative culture.
Would you allow for yourself to be objected to the ridicule that President Obama is undergoing by Trump? Sure, he gets paid for it, but nonetheless he is human. He has daughters and a wife that he goes home to every night, and he has the worrisome burden of the world upon his shoulders. He has plenty of worries. He does not need to appease Trump’s irrational questions. Why should he have to bow down to the request of someone whose intentions are to stir a pot of propaganda? Clearly, card stacking is in Trump’s electoral agenda, and he is definitely part of the argumentative culture.
Now, Trump’s remarks on Obama not really being a citizen of the United States is a form of card stacking, which is based off of the Institute for Propaganda Analysis, and their definition of card stacking. ““Card Stacking” is a device in which the propagandist employs all the arts of deception to win our support for himself, his group, nation, race, policy, practice, belief, or ideal” (Institute). This being the case, it seems fair to assume that Trump is doing is implementing this very action. You see, Trump wants to become president in the next election. What Trump is trying to do is use “the arts of deception to win support for himself”, and bring less support to Obama during election time (Institute). Next, “He uses under-emphasis and over-emphasis to doge issues and evades facts” (Institute). I don’t know how many of you have seen Mr. Trump talk, but whoa, watch out! There is a lot of over-emphasizing going on there. This over-emphasizing is shown clearly in a video interview with NBC’s Savannah Guthrie. Guthrie states that Trump is “out on an island on this issue”, and his rebuttal is overtly emphasized, even almost sassy (Guthrie). Finally, the Institute states that, “By means of [card stacking] propagandists would convince us that a ruthless war of aggression is a crusade for righteousness” (Institute). Trump has convinced many American citizens already based off of just inquiry into the matter. In fact, according to CNN “More than four in 10 Republicans … believe [Obama] probably or definitely was not born in America” (Tuchman). He has convinced these Republicans by the means of aggression toward the issue, and nothing more. He has made them believe that his actions are righteous. However, Trump is just a propagandist that has fooled those Republicans.
In “Taking TV’s “War of Words” Too Literally”, Deborah Tannen gives insight as to why Trump is inquiring on Obama’s birth certificate. I found that the soul basis of Tannen’s argument, ironically enough seeing as how her essay is about the argumentative ways of society, is that “Everywhere we turn, there is evidence that, in public discourse, we prize contentiousness and aggression more than cooperation and conciliation” (Tannen). Trump is definitely in this category, seeing as how he loves aggressive arguments. People like Trump, “don’t just portray their subjects warts and all, but set out to dig up as much dirt as possible, as if the story of a person’s life is contained in the warts, only the warts, and nothing but the warts” (Tannen). Trump is attacking President Obama, and is trying to portray him as a warty intruder, but instead Trump’s face is sprouting all sorts of warts. Furthermore, Tannen goes on saying, “It’s all part of what I call the argument culture, which rests on the assumption that opposition is the best way to get anything done”. Once again, this depicts Trump nicely seeing as how for no reason he is prying into the private life of Obama, which I may remind you is a human being like you and I. Trump is purposefully indulging in the argumentative culture. Certainly, he believes “The best way to begin an essay is to attack someone” (Tannen). That is who Trump is, and why he is consistently questioning the President of his citizenship, he is part of the argumentative culture.
Would you allow for yourself to be objected to the ridicule that President Obama is undergoing by Trump? Sure, he gets paid for it, but nonetheless he is human. He has daughters and a wife that he goes home to every night, and he has the worrisome burden of the world upon his shoulders. He has plenty of worries. He does not need to appease Trump’s irrational questions. Why should he have to bow down to the request of someone whose intentions are to stir a pot of propaganda? Clearly, card stacking is in Trump’s electoral agenda, and he is definitely part of the argumentative culture.
Works Cited
Institute for Propaganda Analysis. “How to Detect Propaganda.” Exploring Language. Ed. Suzanna P. Chambers. New York: Pearson, 2010. 429. Print. 26 April 2011.
Tannen, Deborah. “Taking TV’s “War of Words” Too Literally.” Exploring Language. Ed. Suzanna P. Chambers. New York: Pearson, 2010. 429. Print. 26 April 2011.
Guthrie, Savannah. “Trump: ‘The world is destroying our country.” Today. msnbc, 26 April 2011. Web. 26 April 2011. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42762170/ns/politics-more_politics/.
Tuchman, Gary. “CNN investigation: Obama born in U.S..” CNN Politics. CNN, 25 April 2011. Web. 26 April 2011. http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/04/25/birthers.obama.hawaii/index.html.
Yes, I understand the point that you made that the easiest that “The best way to begin an essay is to attack someone.” This is similar to a certain aspect of hip hop music: a new rapper is trying to get on the map, but really has no skills, so he disses an established rapper just to sell a few records and become instantly popular based on another rapper’s name. This is one of the oldest tricks in that game, and this is exactly what Donald Trump is doing. I do not think that Donald Trump is a racist per se, but he is certainly jumping on the “birther” band wagon, which is fueled by elements of racism and ignorance. Actually, Trump is becoming that movement’s figurehead. Of course it is ridiculous to request his birth certificate, but like that new rapper that I described, Trump really doesn’t have much more to say at this time. It is a shame that “we prize contentiousness and aggression more than cooperation and conciliation” in politics, but this is the way our overall culture is becoming. I don’t think that he has a snowball’s chance in hell at winning a Presidential election in 2012, but he may manage to steal votes from a more legitimate Republican candidate.
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