Category Archives: rhetoric

Don’t Drink the Kool-Aid (or the Water)

politics, rhetoric, toledo 2014.08.06 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Erie algae crisis a long time growing (Journal Gazette) Toxic algae crisis isn’t over for Lake Erie or the nation (Globe Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) For all that this past weekend’s water emergency in the Toledo area made international news, for all that a couple of our local television stations spent most of the weekend in live non-stop news coverage, this “crisis” didn’t wind up being much more than a very big, very widespread inconvenience while it was going on. There haven’t been any reports…

Time to Occupy Government

politics, rhetoric 2014.06.19 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Conservative lobby group behind push to lower minimum wage, report says (The Guardian) In 33 U.S. Cities, It’s Illegal to Do the One Thing That Helps the Homeless Most (mic.com) Just because you don’t hear that many news stories about the Occupy movement these days doesn’t mean that they’re not still active. Although the television-friendly encampments of a few years ago may be gone, the people and energy of Occupy have moved towards grassroots movements to better people’s conditions. These might not make for what…

Then They Fight You, Then You Win

politics, rhetoric, television 2014.06.13 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

The Rise Of The Brony And The Death Of The American Man (horse-news.net) The first conservative attack on the adult fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was notable for a couple of reasons. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, it provided the spark that convinced John de Lancie (voice of Discord and, of course, a true geek god for playing Q in Star Trek) to commit to the project that would eventually become the feature documentary Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony. The other thing worth…

The House of Bill O’Reilly’s A-Block

politics, rhetoric 2014.05.09 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

Boehner taps Rep. Trey Gowdy to lead Benghazi select committee (Washington Post) House votes to hold ex-IRS official in contempt (AP via msn.com) The possibility of me ever having anything to do with televised news shows is next to none, but it’s a field I study a lot because of the impact that the prime time news shows have not just on politics, but America as a whole. Although hosts provide the “face” of a show, and sometimes do a great deal of work, the…

Posse Vulpes Volpes

politics, rhetoric 2014.04.29 Sean Shannon Leave a comment

OK to sell widow’s home over $6 bill, judge rules (AP via Yahoo! News) After Nevada ranch stand-off, emboldened militias ask: where next? (Reuters) You know what law I think was a massive government overreach that has devastated America? The 2005 Bankruptcy Reform Act. Passed in the aftermath of Bush 43’s reelection, at a time when the national news media was still an obedient lapdog to the Republican Party and their attempts to stifle any kind of dissent to their regime (before the government’s botched…