Our founding fathers came together and developed a country that is known around the world for its democracy. The framers put together and organized the government in such a way that the people would have a say in what was being done. Unfortunately, the United States has changed a lot since its independence back in 1776. In today’s society, governors are now trying to sell senate seats.
The article, “Filling Senate Vacancies,” from the Los Angeles Times, looks with greater detail at the wrongfulness of filling Senate seats. The author uses ethos to manipulate and mold the reader. Although this article does make some valid points, it is based on facts that are not backed up with valid evidence. It is definitely a biased article, in favor of prosecuting Governor Rod Blagojevich.
In his article, the author uses sweeping generalization to infer that politicians are always chosen by wrongful means. It is generally known politicians are greedy and want to get as much power as they possibly can. The author however, applies this general statement to all individual elections. He says that, “New Yorkers may elect politicians based on political pedigree, [and] Californians may elect them on box-office receipts, but that’s their prerogative.” This remark is uncalled for. He is implying that every single election that has ever taken place in New York and California was unfair and corrupt. This is completely out of line. There is no valid evidence to prove this.
In order to make his article seem more real and valid, the author includes some material referring to the ratification of the 17th Amendment. This verisimilitude heightens the power of the article. Most people off the top of their head could not define the 17th Amendment. By referring to it, readers feel like the author is smart and knows what he is talking about. This forces the readers to have more confidence that the article is telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Although there is some verisimilitude in this article, the author uses anecdotal evidence to keep the reader distracted. The article refers to, “Hubert ‘Happy’ Hopper, the fictional governor from ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” In the movie, Hubert appointed easy-going Jefferson Smith to office. This new officer proved to be “incorruptible.” The author uses this fictional example to compare with the actions of Blagojevich. He says that the way Hopper chose the governor was “saintly” compared to how Blagojevich did it. The author uses fictional examples to prove his point. In no way shape or form does this count as valid evidence.
In addition to including anecdotal evidence, the author uses flashbacks to make his article seem more believable. He refers to the past appointments of Senator Hilary Clinton and Caroline Kennedy to try to further explain the corruption in American politics and the crumbling of the election process. He says that Kennedy would never have been a replacement for Hilary Clinton, “if she were not a daughter of a slain president.” By including this fact in the article, the author uses history and past events to validate his point. By doing this, the readers believe that history has repeated itself, therefore, it is probable that it could happen again with the promotion of President-elect Obama’s senator seat.
“Filling the Senate Vacancies,” is a very interesting read. If the reader had no knowledge or concept about fallacies and other errors in the human language, he or she would have probably found this article very truthful and unbiased. Unfortunately though, no such article exists. I dohowever, believe that Governor Blagojevich should be prosecuted; this article does not honestly provide the facts though. Perhaps someday an article will be published that correctly relays information to the public, so we are not manipulated by the media any longer.
Was it an article or an editorial? While editorials still need to back up their facts, they are assumed to be biased.
Like what you've read? Well, then here's more:
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/tricia0711
This was an editorial. I received an assignment to critique and analyze the fallacies and errors in the English language of an opinion/editorial article. One of the things my teacher told me to address was if it was biased or valid. In my opinion, there is never a truly unbiased piece of literature. This was the paper I wrote for it.
"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away" ~Hilary Cooper