Posted on 10/14/2012 6:29:14 AM PDT by Evil Slayer
After enduring three days of outlandish claims and grievances about American life at the Charlotte convention, I wrote that “something shocking is happening to the Democratic Party.”
Five weeks later, I must amend the observation. The soul-sapping transformation is no longer “happening.” It is complete.
The Democratic Party has lost its mind and its way. Its political philosophy of inclusion and progress has been consumed by virulent strains of anger, dishonesty and intolerance. Its leaders don’t just want to win an election; they want to silence any American who disagrees with them.
Consider the latest evidence.
The White House, on defense over the assassination of our Libyan ambassador after Washington reduced security, launched a frantic search for a scapegoat. It first blamed protests over an anti-Muslim video and, when forced to admit the protests never existed, pointed fingers at intelligence officials and managers in the State Department. Watch your back, Hillary.
A campaign aide, with a straight face, also insisted that the terrorist attack is an issue only because Republicans politicized it. The buck doesn’t stop at this president’s desk.
A desperate Obama resorts to calling his opponent a “liar,” and his latest promise is to preserve taxpayer subsidies for public television’s cash cow, Big Bird. The tactic is denounced even by supporters as more cartoonish than the giant yellow canary. No matter — it’s a victory because another day passes without discussion of jobs, the debt, deficit or Iran.
Then there is Joe Biden. As I predicted, his manic behavior at the veep debate won the approval of Dems despondent over Obama’s flop at his debate. Biden’s rude laughs, snorts and sneers, combined with hectoring accusations of Paul Ryan, were catnip for those who see Republicans as unworthy and illegitimate.
They actually applaud that Biden’s interruptions — more than
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Finally? I think it happened about 6 years ago.
I would say more like 12 years ago, when Algore lost. That’s when I noticed that vandalism started to become “political expression”.
You are absolutely right. When I was in grade school there was a branch of language arts called "Forensics".
The skills included :
► Congressional Debate
► Debate
► Domestic Extemporaneous Speaking
► Dramatic Interpretation
► Duo Interpretation
► Expository Address
► Extemporaneous Commentary
► Extemporaneous Reading
► Foreign Extemporaneous Speaking
► Humorous Interpretation
► Impromptu Speaking
► Original Oratory
► Poetry Interpretation
► Policy
► Prose Interpretation
► Public Forum
► Storytelling
The list is subject to revision over time and may include new areas of development as older areas are eliminated.
Ground Rules for Forensic Debate
The coach of the debate team selects debaters and forms four man teams, two affirmative speakers and two negative speakers. There are specific rounds alternating between the two teams. The winners of the district tournaments go to the state tournament and if successful, advance to a National Forensic League Tournament.
Ethical Rules
Debaters must address the judge, opponents and audience. They may not interrupt a speaker at any time. All debaters shake hands at the conclusion of the debate.
Topic Rules
The National Forensic League provides the topic each year in the form of a resolution and sends it to interested schools. Their publication, "The Rostrum," also lists the announced topic. The students are informed of the topic several weeks in advance. At the debate, the coach puts the topic on the board so it is visible to the debaters and audience.
Evidence Rules
The debaters bring verifiable sources of information to prove their arguments. Debaters place this evidence on index cards and file them according to the arguments.
Questioning Evidence
The opposing team may question the validity of a source. A judge may rule to disregard a specific citation when challenged. The debater may be disqualified for using non-existent evidence and claiming it is true.
Procedural Rules
Each speaker speaks for eight minutes.The affirmative has a prepared speech and speaks first. He shows how the status quo is not working and proposes a method for change. He has the burden of proof. The first negative cross-questions the first affirmative. According to the rules, the process continues until each speaker has an opportunity to speak. A five-minute rebuttal alternating the negative and affirmative speakers follows.
Teammate Rules
Between rounds, a speaker may consult with a partner. No consultation can occur at any other time.
Requesting Opponents' Arguments
A debater may request a copy of the opponent's arguments and case. The opponent has the option to refuse and suffers no penalty for doing so.
Judge's Rules
The judge uses a rubic or rating sheet to rate the debaters.The speaker qualifies for points based upon the presentation.The judge writes constructive comments on each debater's rating sheet and returns it to the debater. The judge then announces the debate winner.
You will notice that there is a great difference between formal forensic debate and the clown show that passes for debate among politicians. To wit, a single topic is debated under strict procedural rules, and the debate is scored by judges not the press or spectators.
NFL Background
No, not that NFL! The National Forensic League is a non-partisan, non-profit educational honor society established to encourage and motivate American high school students to participate in and become proficient in public speaking. NFL is the America's oldest and largest high school speech and debate honor society. Since 1925, NFL has enrolled over 1.3 million students in fulfillment of its motto, "training youth for leadership.
"The National Forensic League believes that all students should be empowered to become effective communicators, ethical individuals, critical thinkers, and leaders in a democratic society. The League exists to promote secondary school speech and debate activities and interscholastic competition as a means to develop a student’s lifelong skills and values and to increase the public’s awareness of the value of speech, debate and communication education."
Members of the National Forensic League are expected to abide by the NFL Code of Honor. The Code of Honor was initially proposed in recognition of the Honor Society nature of the League. The Code of Honor consists of an NFL Oath and five tenets. "As a member of the National Forensic League, I pledge to uphold the highest standards of integrity, humility, respect, leadership and service in the pursuit of excellence."
The National Forensic League was formed through the efforts of professor Bruno E. Jacob, in March of 1925 at Ripon College, Ripon Wisconsin.
And yes, I did participate in "Forensics" in the early 1950's.
Regards,
GtG
Wow!...and 7 tactics confirming it!.....SPOT ON!...That needs to go viral!...ASAP!
COOL! I, too, participated in forensics - in the mid-1970s! My areas were extemporaneous speaking and expository address. As I recall, it was challenging and FUN!
Recently, I shared my high school experiences on the forensic team with someone - a politically-involved, owns-his-own-realty-company man in his 50s - and he SCOFFED at me! He did not know about forensics other than forensic sciences... Did I set him straight. (He does tend to be pompous, so I really enjoyed the moment.)
A clip that is often entitled “Peggy Goes Bonkers” from Desperate Living.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCyMkgqY2FM
This is tame compared to the dems these days.
The spousal abuse info you posted about Biden’s behavior is right on target. I was unfortunately in a brief relationship when I was just 18 with an abusive snake who posed as a human being. I got tired of poor treatment fairly quickly and tried to end the relationship. He proceeded to beat me unconscious. I was smart enough not to fall for his begging forgiveness and “I love you and it will never happen again” crap. I also informed him that he was already lucky to still be alive as the men in my family were all military and would hunt him down and kill him if they ever found out what he had done to me. He left me alone and I escaped. Now I am teaching my daughters how to shoot so they can kill snakes on their own, if necessary.
Anyways, the only reason for my posting the whole gory story from decades ago was that this all came back full force as I was watching Biden the other night. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that he physically or emotionally abuses his wife :-(
When my granddaughters act like that, my daughter says they are having a meltdown. The Dems are having their version of a meltdown or temper tantrum. As Michael Savage always says, liberalism is a mental disorder.
Dems are MORALLY Bankrupt, RUDE and SCARY!
As I posted----women have to recognize the signs----b/c these sub-human creeps reveal themselves in subtle ways.
Untimely, unneccesary "touching" early on is one clue.
Add if mom/dad cringe in his presence----that IS a clue.
Good points, thanks, I’ll pass those on to my daughters!
On the bright side, I’ve been happily married for 21 years to an amazing, gentle, caring man who is very similar to Paul Ryan. When I learn a lesson, I really, really learn it :-)
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