Political Rhetoric

Little over three weeks ago a crazed gunman shot US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-8) in the head. Some early reports speculated that the shooting was politically motivated, which led others to comment, one being Corrine Brown. Ms. Brown stated, “certainly, one of the greatest components of American democracy is to be able to resolve conflict through compromise and dialogue, not senseless violence.”

I agree with Ms. Brown in principle.

While we might debate to the degree, if any, whether the shooting was politically motivated or not, but I believe Ms. Brown's statement is apropos. I think the current state of our 'political rhetoric' needs improvement as evidenced by the increasing polarization that has occurred in Congress between the two political parties over the past two decades.

I think Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s maxim “don’t raise your voice, improve your argument”, which he attributed to his mother, points to the difficulty. Improving one's argument requires a lot of work. It requires active listening, knowledge of facts with which to support one's position and the skill to know how to position one's counter arguments. It is not easy, which I think helps explain:

1. Why people resort to using aggressive language, behavior and or force to achieve one's desires and
2. Why politicians revert to negative ads.

The use of rhetoric is not new; it is one of the original seven liberal arts (the others are grammar, logic, arithmetic, astronomy, music and geometry). I think if we were to embrace the true concept of rhetoric, we would accomplish more because we would be actively engaged in solving problem(s) and not trying for one-upmanship.