When I see the two political parties in America, I see them by their rhetoric and their actions. Both parties say one thing and do another, but one to a lesser extent than the other. I believe both parties love America and those defending it, but one more than the other.
I stumbled upon a site yesterday called “American Rhetoric”. The site chronicles political speeches, movie clips, and other media clippings from America. Now in the political section there were speeches from both parties from presidential conventions to State of the Union addresses. I found particular interest in the 2004 Presidential Conventions. As I revisited the speeches from both sides, I saw many similarities, but one major difference, nearly all of the Republican speakers referenced the greatness of America followed by a U-S-A chant, and the Democratic speakers talked about what is wrong with America, how divided it is. I understand the campaign logic but not one U-S-A chant? Not one complement to our troops?
That only scratched the surface of my “investigation” into this subject. As I measure the political rhetoric, I and many others, realize that in the entire post 9-11 era, I haven’t heard one public speech by a Democrat that strongly supported the goodness of America or those defending it. I heard a lot of paper-thin rhetoric like, “I support the troops, but I don’t support the war.” Just like Nancy Polosi says “Stay the Course” is not a strategy, “I support the troops but not the war” is not a political agenda.
I believe that the Republican party, now in the minority, will still have the love for America and they will express it in public, but the Democratic party still will be yelling about how wrong the U.S. is or how the troops are noble but their mission is a failed policy. The Democrats promised “change” but they are the ones that need a “change”, in their rhetoric. Because right now all I see is a country that is now partially led by people who don’t love it, at least publicly.
I stumbled upon a site yesterday called “American Rhetoric”. The site chronicles political speeches, movie clips, and other media clippings from America. Now in the political section there were speeches from both parties from presidential conventions to State of the Union addresses. I found particular interest in the 2004 Presidential Conventions. As I revisited the speeches from both sides, I saw many similarities, but one major difference, nearly all of the Republican speakers referenced the greatness of America followed by a U-S-A chant, and the Democratic speakers talked about what is wrong with America, how divided it is. I understand the campaign logic but not one U-S-A chant? Not one complement to our troops?
That only scratched the surface of my “investigation” into this subject. As I measure the political rhetoric, I and many others, realize that in the entire post 9-11 era, I haven’t heard one public speech by a Democrat that strongly supported the goodness of America or those defending it. I heard a lot of paper-thin rhetoric like, “I support the troops, but I don’t support the war.” Just like Nancy Polosi says “Stay the Course” is not a strategy, “I support the troops but not the war” is not a political agenda.
I believe that the Republican party, now in the minority, will still have the love for America and they will express it in public, but the Democratic party still will be yelling about how wrong the U.S. is or how the troops are noble but their mission is a failed policy. The Democrats promised “change” but they are the ones that need a “change”, in their rhetoric. Because right now all I see is a country that is now partially led by people who don’t love it, at least publicly.
