COMM 4020 Political Communication blog

the news talked about Michelle obama being booed at a nsacar race and how that might have been expected.  Michele obama and Bidens wife attend the race and were booed by certain individuals the article said  not a crowd.  the article stated that individual booed michelle and not a crowd what the title leads you to think.   also i felt that loooking in the article i felt that the artcle was leading towards saying nascar was a republican rich act, and that common people-democrats, were not in the race or crowd.  What i ment is, that democrtas and poor people dont watch nascar and participate in the sport.  a felt that the article was priming or framing me to think that republicans were the only people at nascar so boooed michelle action should be pre thoughor wanted.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/The-Vote/2011/1121/Michelle-Obama-booed-at-NASCAR-race.-Was-that-to-be-expected

the scene opens with one student speaking to the camera, the student looks frustrated, low music)
Zach Englefield

(switch to another frustrated student speaking to the camera)
We have seen that he is Disconnected.

(quote appears on the screen)
“To help all communication students at BGSU…I want to put a free tutoring program into effect.”- Zach Englefield

(another student speaking)
Didn’t you know? BGSU learning commons is a place that already offers free tutoring to BGSU students in ANY field.

(another student speaking)
He is Distracted from the real issues.

(quote appears on screen)
“The large number of students enrolling does have some major disadvantages to students and teachers at the University”- Zach Englefield

(another student speaking)
In fact, his whole platform centers around how high enrollment is a bad thing.

(another student speaking)
Didn’t you know? the University needs students.

(a school administrator talking to the camera, with their name listed under their image)
“Zach’s priorities are wrong. The school needs higher enrollment. With higher enrollment, the school can afford to hire more staff, better teachers, more up to date equipment, and offer more services.”

(another student speaking, more upbeat music, student looks happier)
We need someone to get back to the real issues.

(Alina Raulinaitis speaking to the camera, with her name listed under her image, music is still upbeat)
I promise as the president of Communication, to only  focus on the real issues like providing a common space for Communication majors, and helping students envision their career paths.

(another student speaks, looking confident)
Vote for Alina Raulinaitis.

(another student speaks)
Vote for CommUnity.

The last time we met for class, we had a very interesting discussion words and how they can have double meaning depending on the context in which they are used. At this time I cannot recall our original discussion on this sort of double meaning behind lyrics or words. However, I do remember us bringing up popular songs and artists who have worked to not be “typical” in their music. We specifically spoke about an artist who made a song that was mocking the typical kind of song that was popular at the time. At first listen the one might assume that the song was a typical pop song, but when you listened closer the artists lyrics describe how they were not going to be the typical artist by “selling out.” Someone in class then brought up an artist by the named Lupe Fiasco, and mentioned how he has alot of music with very political and underlying meaning that only one who is attentive would pick up on. It reminded me of a youtube clip that I saw with Lupe and Bill O’Reilly having a heated discussion about lyrics that he had included in one of his songs “Words I Never Said” in which he writes about terrorism. In the song, O’Reilly charges Lupe after hearing this lyric, “I believe that the biggest terrorist, Obama and the Unites States of America and its foreign policy.” In the clip you will see O’Reilly disturbed as he usually is by rappers as he tries to find out why Lupe would have made such a lofty statement about the President of the Unites States. You will see Lupe respond by saying he is against the war and did not mean anything personally when he made his statement, instead it was just an effort to express his political views through his art. The two go back and forth throughout the clip, and while I do not usually agree with O’Reillys stance on political issues, I too feel that it was problematic for Lupe to say something so disrespectful about our President. However, I too think that he didnt mean it in a literal sense, instead he probably wanted to alert his audience to pay closer attention to politics, it was still done in a tacky way. Take a look at the clip and decide for yourself…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYJ20INbM7Q

In this video, Jon Stewart, a popular “fake news” pundit who has a show on Comedy Central known as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, he discusses how the GOP candidate race has been subject to news media constantly declaring leaders throughout the election process. In his monologue, Stewart notes how in recent news stories Newt Gingrich has shot to the top of GOP candidates. He then refers to how in the last year, those same media outlets have declared people like Governor Rick Perry, Michelle Bachman, and Herman Cain all having their moment at the top of current polls only to have their popularity sink and declared dead as a possible winners. He goes on to show how the media has also kept other candidates on the back burner of the news even though their polls show they have been consistently favored, most notably Ron Paul. On top of that, people like Sarah Palin, whom never actually ran as a possible candidate had her time at the top of polls.

This video is an example of fake news acts as a bridge between what large media outlets consider news and how they extort that news and how fake news can act as a monitor of this activity. It also shows how real news can be integrated within fake news. Their is a theory that many young people get most of their news from shows like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report (a similar show on Comedy Central). This video eludes to how that theory could be backed because it offers a summary of a certain media topic, which spans over an extended period of time, but also gives a different perspective of how that news can be interpreted.

http://www.bromygod.com/2011/11/18/jon-stewart-on-the-gop-ridiculousness/

This story, http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/193971-gingrich-denies-lobbying-says-only-offered-freddie-mac-strategic-advice, is about former Speaker of the House and
current Republican Presidential primary candidate Newt Gingrich.  Mr. Gingrich has on multiple occasions
claimed that the collapse of the housing market and the countries current
economic troubles are to be blamed on The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation,
also known as Freddie Mac.  Freddie Mac
is a public government sponsored entity meant to increase the supply of money
available for mortgage lending and increasing the money available for new home
purchases.  Freddie Mac bought mortgages
on the secondary market and pooled them to sell as mortgage backed security to
investors on the open market.  Since campaigning
to be the Republican presidential candidate Mr. Gingrich has been condemning the
practices of Freddie Mac and the public officials that have supported
them.  This story deals with the fact
that since making his accusations against Freddie Mac it has come to light that
Mr. Gingrich  was paid millions of
dollars by Freddie Mac to “build bridges” with members of Congress, using his
connections as a former representative and Speaker of the House.  This would make him a lobbyist, which has
come to be regarded by the public as a negatively affecting government and government
policy making.  Since the release of this
information Gingrich has been telling any interviewer that will listen that he
was never a lobbyist for Freddie Mac and that the huge fees his firm collected
from Freddie Mac were for his being a strategic consultant and historian for
the organization.

Gingrich seems to be attempting to move away from
the idea of ever having been a lobbyist to a more abstract and general view of
only being a consultant.  In apologia this
is considered transcendence, where one attempts to get away from the particulars
of a charge and closer to an abstract or general idea connected to the charges.

In this article the author, Tucker Reals, talks about Herman Cain’s appearance on the David Letterman show. In this article it talks about Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, which is his plan to boost our economy and lower the unemployment rate if he does become president in 2012. In this article they state that Herman Cain’s plan is to “abolish the new U.S. tax code and replace it with a flat nine percent rate for all corporate entities, sales transactions and most Americans.” Letterman jokes around with Cain and says that his 9-9-9 plan is a plan so that Americans can dial 9-9-9 and receive a free pizza because Cain use to be in the food business. Cain reacts back by telling Letterman no if they dial the number they will be able to get a job. Cain believes that if he lowers the corporate tax that companies will have more money for more resources and then they will have to hire more people providing jobs for Americans.

                In our text book we learned about the term presumption. Presumption refers to the position or stance that is presumed to be true. I feel that Cain is sticking behind his 9-9-9 plan so heavily because deep down he presumes it to be the right choice for Americans. I believe that he truly does feel it will spark more jobs in America and also help out our economy.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57327345-503544/cain-tries-to-sell-letterman-his-9-9-9-plan/

We have discussed attack ads in class and have worked on creating our own in the election projects. Also, we have learned how to identify an attack ad, such as noticing a black and white screen, unhappy music, or using a person’s word against them. One thing that we did not discuss in detail was how to counter an attack ad. As the presidential elections heat up, we are bound to see more and more attack ads polluting our televisions. We have already seen numerous Republican candidates fall from the top of the polls, because they have been a target for attacks from their opponents. Now, as former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich makes his comeback to the top of the polls, he has sensed a pattern and is taking a proactive approach to stopping some of the attacks he anticipates. This story describes how Gingrich has set up a new website called “Answering the Attacks,” in which he attempts to clear the air about anything controversial he may have done in his long standing past in politics. According to the article, Gingrich “has cast 7,000 votes, delivered 1,500 speeches and written thousands of articles as well as two-dozen books”, chances are good for someone to find something against him. It will be interesting to see if this strategy works, and keeps Newt at the top of the polls for the Republican nomination.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/11/20/gingrich-tries-to-preempt-attacks-as-poll-numbers-rise/

This article discusses gerrymandering and how it operates politically across our nation. The reporter who was conducting research established that many citizens do not even know what gerrymandering means, nor what it does.  “Gerrymandering is the term for the way politicians draw boundary lines for legislative districts in a way designed to keep one party or the other in power in that particular district”, according to this article.  So politicians are able to use gerrymandering strategically to secure their seat in congress. The research done in the article states that “in the last 10 years, 78% of the seats in the U.S. House of Representatives — almost four out of every five members of Congress — did not change party hands even once”. With this research alone, it is almost clear that something unfair is going on when members of Congress are elected. It seems as if no one’s vote really matters when electing Congress members because the whole thing is rigged prior to anyone’s vote.  This article is a reflection of reporters  of objective fact. The reporter’s role is to state the facts that they find and then report the truth to our citizens.  Now people can be truly aware of what gerrymandering is, and how it is used in our politics.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/18/politics/gerrymandering/index.html

Article found at: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/On-Veterans-Day-weekend-Decker-penalized-for-sa?urn=nfl-wp11807

During Sunday night’s Denver Broncos game, receiver Eric Decker dropped to a knee and saluted in the end zone after scoring a 56-yard touchdown. This was meant to be a patriotic gesture and a show of respect for our US troops. However, Deker was consequently penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct and excessive celebration in the endzone. It was Veteran’s Day weekend. Obviously, this has caused some controversy among viewers.

To some this action taken against the player may appear to be unpatriotic. However, the fact is that dropping to the knee in celebration has been illegal for about two years now. Since one could argue that all Communication is rhetorical, Deker’s gesture can be considered a good example of Kairos.Though I’m sure Deker didn’t mean to break the NFL’s knee-drop rule on purpose, the fact that he did so while saluting during a Veteran’s Day weekend game draws attention to a larger issue.

This to me is an effective use of Kairos, accidental though it may be. And while it may look as though Deker came up on the losing end of this battle, he was successful in raising questions, which may win him the war over the NFL’s extremely strict rules. Perhaps this was his intention all along; after all, what’s a few hundred-thousand dollars fine to an NFL player, anyway?

I think Cain had a gaffe because he took a long time to answer the question about the Lybia. This is not that serious but he should not have taken this look to report what he thinks. I think the media is trying to say this is a rick perry forgot moment when it really isn’t. when I found the tape, the news said he had a perry moment. Although he paused and didn’t answer he answered after he figured out what he had to. Many would say this is crazy that he didn’t answer but its normal. I think the media is trying to play, frame or prime, that he is like perry and pubbing the situation to be more than it should. It was not a debate, it was a talk and he came up with an answer. It wasn’t perry forgetting what he forgot in an television debate, which he covered up. So, the media is trying to say it is a perry forgetting moment, trying to say that politicians don’t know anything, when it was a short thought cycle. He said that he needed to figure out what he had to report.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45295631#45295091