Rhetoric 1101

janelle, thank you very much for blogging something that was pro-Bush instead of Kerry, i kind of think that we get bombarded by pro-kerry at school and i think we need alittle variety, oh and dont worry you arent the only one thats a bush supporter :) oh and the video is soo sad, one guy was a POW for 7 years and 10 months!

im glad, erin, that im not the only one! makes me feel better, knowing im not totally surrounded!

here is another thing i saw while on the UMN Hub: " Wow - that's quite possibly the most ignorant thing I've ever read. You vote for the candidate you think would be best in office, not for the lesser of two evils. ... Seriously people, come on." This really sums it up. who will you vote for? (just an extra little tidbit i found along the way)

I think that some people are doing the "vote for the lesser of two evils" thing instead of voting for who they think would be the best in office because they know that the person they think would do the best has NO chance against Bush. For example, many Nader supporters would love to vote for Nader and they think that he would be the best in office, but instead they vote for Kerry because they know that Nader will never get enough votes anywayz, so they might as well use their vote to get rid of Bush who they totally can't stand to have for another 4 years. I am not saying this is the right thing to do or otherwise, I am just saying that is a big reason a lot of people are going by the "vote for the lesser of two evils" thing.

Umm Janelle I don't mean to be rude here but I had a question: you said

"if they say blood is going to run in the streets if Bush is re-elected, that tells me that the "terrorists" know that Bush will fight them, and continue to fight them, while Kerry will be a pushover and allow it to continue."

I just wanted to ask what the "terrorists" have to do with blood running through the streets of Iraq? I mean, to my knowledge, the "terrorists" had nothing to with Iraq...Al Qaeda (if that is what you mean by terrorists) is not linked to Iraq in any way (as mentioned by Dick Cheney himself) and the 9/11 Comission Report which I have just finished reading shows that all of the hijackers or "terrorists" were from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, the UAE etc but not from Iraq...so I was just wondering what the relation was in your claim?

ok ok, i may not have correct information at all times, and i may not have the most perfect memory about exact facts that are told to me and stuff, but my point was that the group of people we are fighting against in the war said something about the "blood running in the streets" and stuff, relating that to Bush. i dont know how accurate or whatever it was, or where my dad heard it from, but i was just going off memory there. its not a big deal i guess. just something that in general made me think. yes?

I think that the class is being divided into two different parts: democrat and republican, respectively emphasizing their attention of each candidate. I am a Democrat, and I am not hte only one class (I have to announce this of course "Oh, good, I am not totally surrounded by republicans") And if janelle is going to write something like what she did, I hope she thinks the next time she does that, or else it will make her look terrible, as it did in this case. Pata, Erin, and Janelle: you didn't have to read this.

In addition to talking about what we'll do about readers outside the class who want to leave comments, in class today we need to spend some time talking about ways to disagree with arguments tactfully and respectfully. Of course there are differing opinions on issues in our class, and everyone must feel free to speak his or her mind on any issue. I don't want anyone to be silenced or intimidated out of participating in the discussion. I'd like to revisit the definition of argument in Chapter 1 of our textbook: a group of reasonable people seeking the best solution to a problem. This is not about whoopin' someone's butt; it's about clarifying your ideas and values and the reasons behind them as well as gaining an understanding of the ideas, values, and reasoning of the people who disagree with you. We should also revisit the section on disagreement in Chapter 2. People disagree based on facts, interpretations of facts, and values and assumptions in which the arguments are rooted. When you want to disagree with someone, think of it as the completion of this sentence: "I disagree with this argument for the following reasons: ..." and then, without attacking the person, state the bases of disagreement.

One more thing, and this goes for everyone: If you're trying to persuade an audience to see an issue from your point of view, to agree with your argument, it's crucial that you don't alienate your audience by making them feel personally attacked. That makes them even more resistant to your argument.

And I'm bringing plenty of candy today. :-)

Hi Janelle...I hope you didn't take my comment as me being rude or direspectful (that is the last thing I would want to come across as being: rude and disrespectful)..so I apologize if you felt my comment was rude in any way..I didn't mean for it be rude, i just wasn't clear on what you were saying, so I wanted to ask you. Again, sorry if I commented in a harsh way or whatever...C ya in class today..

I guess my comment is for both Janelle and Alia, - I don't think Janelle said or did anything wrong, she just wasn't overly specific, it's too easy to knit-pick and criticize, we have far more power to make others feel good than we do when we try to take them down - I personally find what's going on in the middle east to be incredibly complicated and hard to understand - and I'm not saying I'm clueless and uninformed at all nor is it impossible to know the facts, I'm referring the problem that it's a complicated issue and that the people who seem to know a lot are often firmly on one side or the other so they will often try to slant things when filling in others. I regard Alia as being knowledgeble in this subject from what she's said to our class already and I feel confident she doesn't 'slant' things or anything like that, so I guess what I'm getting at is [Alia] who are we fighting in Iraq, random groups of rebels who just don't want America interfering? Weren't people glad to be rid of Saddam? To me the issue is made unclear when people call it the war with Iraq and then call it the war on Terror, we're not fighting Iraqi civilians and we cannot remove frightening things from the Earth, so what is the war really about then? I guess this a loaded question (and I don't mean to sound sarcastic or tense) but with the word 'draft' floating around it would be quite stupid to not sit-up and pay attention.

Hi Josh !! Well first of all thanks for your comments..I would be more than happy to answer your question, and I will state facts and not opinions (if you later wanna hear my opinion you can ask me privately; I don't think everyone would appreciate my opinion on this issue!) Anywayz, in order to make sure that I am answering your question properly, I would like to make sure of some facts and information real quick...as soon as I do confirm this info I will write another comment here (if it is okay with Janelle)...

its good that you check your facts, alia. good job. post away