OpEd 7: Dennis Prager's "Paul Ryan and the American Character"

OpEd 7: Dennis Prager's "Paul Ryan and the American Character" By: Daniela Saucedo, Kelsey Barter, Adrian Chavez, Morgan Whiting-Hill

Who is Paul Ryan? Mitt Romney’s VP in the 2012 Presidential Campaign, US Representative for Wisconsin Suspicious of big governments and a big believer in individual rights Considers himself a “fiscal conservative” He has proposed cuts for food stamps and housing projects. Ryan is pro-life, opposes same-sex marriage, and anti-amnesty for immigrants.

Vocabulary • Collectivism- A belief in group interdependence based on the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and the rights of groups take priority over the rights of individuals. • Glee- Joy and giddy happiness • Emanates- To radiate or to come from • Predicated- State, affirm, or assert (something) about the subject of a sentence or an argument of proposition. • Indisputable- a matter that is beyond argument because it wins over unanimously • De-stigmatized- to remove associations of shame or disgrace from • Incurred- to suffer something unpleasant or acquire burden/debt

Persona • Caucasian • Generalizes African-Americans,"Black young people who abuse their teachers and schools feel empowered to continue their antisocial behavior." • Male • "One example [of irresponsible behavior] is women who give birth to a raise children without fathers..." • Republican • "Democrats are relying on the decline of character that Left-wing policies have produced." • Believes in God • Judeo-Christian religions- according to him "the single most effective device in American character building"- weakened by the Left

Diction and Tone • Ardent, zealous, fervent, snide, critical • "Democrats are relying on the decline of character that left-wing policies have produced." • "[Obama's] commitment to weakening American defense." • "Nevertheless, the Democratic party claims to be overjoyed at his selection as the Republican vice-presidential nominee." • Offensive towards women, artists, minorities, poor • Calls single mothers irresponsible • "the cultural Left's glorification of graffiti" • Use of "black" instead of African American • "food stamps (now in a form similar to ATM and credit cards so that no stigma be involved)"

Audience • Republicans, supporters of Paul Ryan • Criticizes liberals in a way that is unattractive to even undecided voters • "Have the Left and Democratic Party sufficiently weakened the character of enough Americans to enable the demonization of Paul Ryan?" • Lack of factual evidence makes it only persuasive for supportive audience • "But given the enormity of the national debt incurred by this administration, its spectacular failure to improve the nation's economy, and its commitment to weakening the American defense..."

Purpose • To rally supporters of Paul Ryan (and Mitt Romney) • Encourage Republicans to vote because if Obama wins, Democrats will ruin what is good in America to create dependent citizens • "[Paul Ryan] believes in self-reliance; the Left believes in reliance on the state. His moral values are shaped by religion; the Left is frightened by religious Christian politicians... He believes in individualism; the Left believes in collectivism. He believes in small government and powerful citizens; the Left believes in large government and dependent citizens."

Argument Although Democrats are happy Paul Ryan is on the GOP ticket because they think he will turn away voters, the moral, Judeo-Christian character of Americans will cause voters to realize the flaws in the Left's mission to expand government.

Rhetorical Devices • Parallelism • "[Paul Ryan] believes in self-reliance; the Left believes in reliance on the state... He believes in individualism; the Left believes in collectivism. He believes in small government and powerful citizens; the Left believes in large government and dependent citizens." • Parenthesis • "The Democrats are hoping that older Americans are (irrationally) frightened by medicare reform even though it will not affect them"

Rhetorical Devices • Anaphora • "...their entitlements may be affected-- even if only beginning a decade from now, and even if the American debt is thereby cut by one-third, and even if they, as well as the country, will ultimately benefit" • Polysyndeton • "[T]he Left is frightened by religious politicians (and athletes, and members of the armed forces, and talk-show hosts, and, for that matter, the clergy)." • Metaphor • "The Republican vice-presidential candidate, Congressman Paul Ryan, is the democrats version of the Antichrist."

Rhetorical Devices • Hyperbole • "The Democrats are hoping that older Americans are (irrationally) frightened by medicare reform even though it will not affect them..." • "the left works to weaken the single most effective device for character-building in American history..." • Epanalepsis • "Every parent- and probably every adult who isn't a parent-..."

Syntax and Overall Structure • Contrast between Paul Ryan and his liberal opposition throughout • The body of the article addresses faults of liberal policy rather than Paul Ryan himself • Combination of points on Democrat's failings leads to Prager's conclusion that Paul Ryan will become Vice President because of the purity of American character. • Implicit thesis inside rhetorical question: "Have the Left and Democratic party sufficiently weakened the character of enough Americans to enable the demonization of Paul Ryan to lead Barack Obama to victory?"

Discussion Questions • How does Prager's use of parallelism in the first paragraph set the tone for the rest of the article? Is it an immediate indication of the overall tone? • It is obvious that the author has a strong political bias in support of Paul Ryan, does his article affect you in any way? Have any of your political ideals been altered due to this article or is it an ineffective piece? • Do you believe the liberal policies the article references are inherently wrong, or is Prager just casting them in a bad light? If you agree with his impressions of Democrats, what aspects of his argument are most effective?

Bibliography • "Paul Ryan." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 09 July 2012. Web. 06 Sept. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Ryan>. • Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 04 Sept. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/>. • "RYAN, Paul - Biographical Information." RYAN, Paul - Biographical Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Sept. 2012. <http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000570>.

OpEd 7: Dennis Prager's "Paul Ryan and the American Character"