Tag Archives: rhetoric

Angry Centrist?

Posted on December 29, 2022 by JMN

“When was the last time you encountered an angry, inflexible centrist who aggressively demanded that you see things from several points of view?” (Brian L. Ott) (Brian L. Ott, “I Studied [***’s] Twitter Use for Six Years. Prepare for the … Continue reading →

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A Flat-Out Wish for the Season

Posted on December 25, 2022 by JMN

Christmas Eve, Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota. Two groups of young men argue in Nordstrom’s, shots are fired, 19–year-old lies dead, suspects being sought. The site of 500 retail stores and 19 full-service restaurants is closed for the evening. “We … Continue reading →

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‘Res Ipsa Loquitur’: The Thing Speaks for Itself

Posted on December 23, 2022 by JMN

“Zelensky is basically an ungrateful, international welfare queen.” (Donald Trump Jr., quoted at https://www.washingtonpost.com/doonesbury/, 12-22-22) Billingsgate of this sort pervades the lowest rungs of public discourse in America. What’s notable for the student of rhetoric is how, even though the … Continue reading →

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Saint Brevity, Patron of Blagueurs

Posted on December 16, 2022 by JMN

“A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” (Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon, 1971) Like a bird on a pole,Like a soul on the dole,I have tried all my waysTo be brief.(JMN, after Leonard Cohen) (Harold Simon is quoted by … Continue reading →

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A Dying Hero’s Own Thoughts and Prayers

Posted on December 8, 2022 by JMN

Vicky Phelan died of cervical cancer last month at age 48 in County Limerick, Ireland. She had been an advocate for fellow victims of botched Pap smears. Her ringing demand for freedom from callous, corrupt leadership has universal application. “I … Continue reading →

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Sensing the Presence of Vinegar: Food Poetry

Posted on November 25, 2022 by JMN

(A squalid detail to put behind us: “vichyssoise” is misspelled in the review as “vichysoisse.” Slipshod, to be sure, but my esteem for Pete Wells’s writing remains intact. Even Homer nodded.) Pete Wells said once that when he became restaurant … Continue reading →

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Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Sober Soccer

Posted on November 19, 2022 by JMN

“I feel 200 percent in control of this World Cup.” (FIFA lord Gianni Infantino) With four games per day in the opening group stage, all played in what is effectively a single city-state, Infantino said the movement of large groups … Continue reading →

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‘It’s More Than It Initially Appears’

Posted on November 11, 2022 by JMN

The comment attributed to a museum director about Jennifer Guidi’s painting reminded me of Mark Twain’s remark that Wagner’s music is “better than it sounds.” “I’m thinking of color as a way to connect — a way to engage — … Continue reading →

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Three Deaths

Posted on October 23, 2022 by JMN

Angela Lansbury (1925 – 2022): ActorPatrick Healy, theater reporter and deputy Opinion writer for The New York Times, recounts how the actor gamely and gracefully confronted the vulnerabilities of advancing age in pursuing her long career (1). In the past … Continue reading →

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When Is a Viper Just a Snake?

Posted on October 21, 2022 by JMN

I share my neck of the world with rattlesnakes, water moccasins, copperheads, coral snakes (red-on-yellow, kill a fellow) and cottonmouths. I can’t tell a moccasin from a cottonmouth — they frequent water, and I don’t. When I see one of … Continue reading →

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