Rhetorical Case Study- Troops in Iraq # 2

I expect my case to factor into the next presidency of four years because Obama, once inaugurated, is going to immediately start having to make foreign policy to establish his credibility and authority in international matters. In his campaign, he adamantly was against the war in Iraq, and made a speech, which I used as a source in which he promised to bring them home as soon as he is in office. He is going to have to hold true to his word, but we know that never happens in politics. Even if he immediately pulls the troops out of Iraq the day he becomes president, he will still have a lot of cleaning up to do over there, some smoothing things over, and some compromises to reach with the country itself. I predict that he will be strongly advised and shown that pulling the troops out would be disastrous, and although he didn't get into this mess, he is the one who will have to make the wise decisions to et the US out of it. i expect it will be a very intense and debated subject within the next 4 years.

Rhetorical Case Study- Troops in Iraq

My rhetorical case study of different views on the war in Iraq couldn't have been more clearly linked to the election since it is a subject that has been brought up in debates, interviews, and published on the candidate's websites. Obama wants to bring the troops home immediately, and McCain wants to keep them in combat for as long as it is necessary to secure peace. Both couldn't disagree more, and although I would love to be bias in my paper and exert and opinion based on the research, it will also be challenging to remain unbiased and just write on the primary sources, not the subjects they are arguing.

Voting

When I voted in the 2008 presidential election, it wasn't a great as I thought it would be, simply because I had to do an absentee ballot. its just not the same mailing a piece of paper in rather than walking up to the polls after waiting in line forever to cast your ballot (electronically, of course). I knew exactly who I was voting for for president, but I had no idea who some of the Representatives were , or the judges and court officials. I refused to just vote for whoever was running in my party, so instead I called my Dad and asked him to briefly explain what each person would do if elected.
It was a god feeling, though, being able to vote for president of the United States. It also made me realize how important it is, especially when i came across people who were too lazy to go and vote.

Researching for My Topic

I was almost overwhelmed at the number of articles and primary sources available in the TCU library system about the war in Irag. I wanted to focus in on troop removal, and the consequences of that, so that helped to narrow down the number of sources. like I said, it was very overwhelming and took alot longer than I had planned, so I kind of regretted doing the topic. But I interviewed my father as a primary source and got to see some of his personal photos of when he was over there and get a personal account. I was also reminded and careful of how biased the media is, and how they will twist and not report whatever helps their point they are arguing, so it helped to get a positive account of the troops in Iraq from my dad. I also looked up primary sources of what Obama and McCain claimed what their point of action would be with the troops once they were in office to compare with each other and explore the potential consequences of each of their decisions.
The assignment I concluded is going to be tough to do, but interesting and helpful because I feel the war is such old news to people that they almost disregard of forget about it.

Topic for the Next portfolio

I am doing my topic on the war in Iraq. I find the war incredibly controversial and will be very interested to do research on more than I already know. I chose this topic not only because I find it interesting, but because I feel like the war has been going on for several years and people are either forgetting about it, don't care anymore, or are sick of hearing about. Not only will I be able to use speeches and policies as research, but I am also planning to use interviews from my Dad who was over there in 2005. I have a lot to narrow down, but I haven't decided which aspect to focus on yet.

My Humorous Argument

My cartoon that I did was in reaction to one of the laws that Obama passed in Illinois that "oks" after birth abortion. Also know as infanticide or induced labor abortion. Many Americans are against abortion and many are for it. My cartoon obviously tries to bring a little humor into the situation that many do not find funny. It shows Obama dragging a baby away from the finger of God, which is also a play on the famous painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel called "the creation of man". The point is that many feel that once babies are born into the world and are breathing on their own, they are human beings and are creations of God, and therefore no one can still have the right to take their life away after birth. But Obama is pulling the baby away because he supports pro-choice and after birth abortion.

Arguments with Humor

I found this cartoon and used it as my example for humor. It does not even have words, but gets its point across as clearly as possible. I thought it was humorous, but definately within the proper bounds, not anything crude or very offensive. It can't be denied by anyone for or against Obama that he goes overboard on his "decorations" and turns his speeches into a spectacle. The artist plays on the second coming of Christ, which is prophesied to be the beginning of the end of the world. i believe this would be considered satire over parody because it is using humor to "unmask' the issue that election funding is going to a fireworks show for the spectators.