Nixon uses the propaganda technique of assertion. He continually states how Congress was at fault for the loss of Vietnam and that is that. Such assertion is used to show how decisive Nixon was and show his leadership abilities. There are many problems with Nixon’s story of Vietnam however. He just cannot be seen as credible in defending himself.
The elite undermined Weimar as a result of their traditional values and hatred of democracy. In addition, Hitler’s radical new approach to politics utilised the weaknesses in Weimar – he was charismatic and through propaganda convinced the public that he could be their saviour. During the years 1918-28 the Nazis had little impact on the political scene – apart from the failed Beer Hall Putsch, which did earn them admiration from some nationalists. However, during these years, some sections of the public were becoming increasingly disillusioned with Weimar. This was due to events like the devastating 1923 hyperinflation, and of course the Treaty of Versailles, which had tainted Weimar’s reputation from its inception.
I especially enjoyed his analysis on the vigilantes and in particular the American Protective League (APL) which is a fairly significant picture of the state of affairs within our country and moreover, the lack of control the government had against the people. The “conspiracy theorist” inside of me has always believed in false flag terror, citizen spies and inside jobs and the existence of the APL was complete confirmation for me. While most would argue that these types of organizations couldn’t exist today, Kennedy opens the door to this type of behavior, which seems illegal in its very fibers. As discussed last week, this time period was rich with reform and political parties were eager to trump the other in any way possible. In Over Here, Kennedy touches on the elites pulling the strings behind the scenes spreading political influence and propaganda along the way.
Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt were both apparent victims of being the wrong president at the wrong time. Their attempts to end the depression, although Hoover's a appeared more futile, were noble efforts on their behalf's considering the circumstances that they were enduring at the time. In many ways, both of these Presidents could not have don't much more to attempt to pull the country out of the Great Depression. Hoover was plagued with a rigid personality and a Democrat Congress that knew there was no better way of placing a Democrat in the White House than make the depression appear to be a Republican doing. FDR on the hand came in when American where willing to try just about anything to pull themselves up.
In a CBS special, Cronkite concluded, "To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past, to say we are mired in a bloody stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory conclusion" ( Hallin, 1986, p.170) This did not help increase the support for our troops in Vietnam. The overall support for the war was diminished by Cronkite's report. The negative coverage of the war influenced politicians, the public, and the American soldier. Concerned with losing support, politicians started to really get involved. The TeT offensive was a last ditch effort for the communists.
“Repaired and Modern” The author of the article “Broken and Obsolete,” Fareed Zakaria, believes that due to the divide in the beliefs of Republicans and Democrats coupled with the poor immigration laws currently in the US, the present immigration status will remain as it is, as he states “broken.” The author gives a few reasons for this belief coupled with examples, like the idea that other countries have been transforming themselves into immigrant societies, adopting many of America's best ideas and even improving on them, and as a result the U.S. is not as exceptional as it once was, and its immigration advantage is lessening. However, overall his claims are wrong because the supporting evidence behind the comparisons that he makes are
While Reagan-Bush did manage to enforce several Acts for the benefit of the people, with the Gulf War and other economic/environmental calamities, their presidencies seemed to leave a bitter taste in the mouths of Americans. I am not quite sure how to indicate my reaction to this chapter. It’s true that in reading I could not move off the thought of just how much opinion appears in this chapter. Zinn’s opinion permeates everything, without regard for more objective stances about the
It certainly seems that they tried to mend the damage done by appearing on public affairs programs and making speeches about how the Tet was an allied victory and a Communist defeat, but it seems that the damage had already been done. [7] “The Johnson administration’s public relations efforts to salvage popular support for the US Vietnam War policy in the aftermath of the Tet assault failed. Maybe the media is given the same freedom to report and access today, in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, as they were in Vietnam. It may just be that the heart of the American people today are just so hardened with hate for the people we are fighting that we just overlook the atrocities and incompetence that is reported. I am sure that looking back on it, the Johnson administration wished that it had a better handle on the media by maybe using more censorship and giving the media less access to the fighting.
The President went forward to accuse the Democrats for conspiring to remove him from office because he had refused to boost their high support prices. Consequently, he admitted for not supervising his campaign staff adequately thereby leading to the Watergate scandal. During the televised speech, the President was noted to be nervous and was even misspelling some of his words but he still managed to control himself and plead his
Many wanted to believe that he was innocent and that he was the trusted leader of the nation that had been voted into Presidency. As investigations continued about the scandal, this belief of his innocence quickly demised. Some of the sadness and disbelief felt by the nation is portrayed through a quote by Mrs. Bennett from Pittsburg, PA. “I wanted to feel that the President didn’t know, but I know that’s not true. I truly feel he knew, and it hurts me. You like to think your leader is honest and upright, flawless, A-1.