The Last Lincoln Blog

In his “Second Inaugural Address” (1865), Abraham Lincoln asserts that the Civil War was God's punishment and judgement of both the North and the South, and, to the fault of the southern region of the United States, the War had gained too much momentum to stop now. He makes this clear by detailing how the war came to be, contrasting the South as the region who sought to “dissolve the Union,” describing their sin of slavery, and explaining how the North played a faulty passive role and accepted the war rather than extinguishing it. His purpose is to let the people know that the government has done all it could possibly do, God has judged their wrongdoings with a magnifying glass, and that the unnatural and unjust wrongdoings of man to his fellow have been unabashedly committed by the South and unacceptably ignored by the North. His audience is the entire nation of the United States of America.

I applaud and agree with the things Lincoln wrote in his Second Inaugural Address. He was upfront and honest to the people instead of trying to be cheesy and unrealistic. He gave them the business. It is kind of like the teacher who gives his class an opportunity to be quiet for five minutes straight, and if they fail then they get no recess for the day. Without hesitation, one kid screams out and everybody else joins with him. Abraham Lincoln is telling his nation, “You guys have lost your recess privileges and are never getting them back.” After Lincoln gave his First Inaugural Address, he was very conciliatory and tried to coerce the people to peace. They refused to listen to him, and now he has had enough. No more Mr. Nice Guy. The American people have failed in a major way and Lincoln makes sure they know it.

This is just one of the many attributes Lincoln possessed which made him the excellent President he was. He always led by example and the people always knew they were being led by someone who understood and lived a moral lifestyle. When Lincoln bashes the people like this, they listen and they are ashamed because Lincoln was a highly respected person. When you are respected, ears perk up when you open your mouth. Some Presidents were never successful because they did not have the trust of the people and this led to people not listening to them. This was never an issue with Abraham Lincoln. Come on, I’m just being honest.

Kristof: "Winds of War in Gaza" Precis and Response

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-winds-of-war-in-gaza.html

Rhetorical Precis

Nicholas Kristof, in his "Winds of War in Gaza" (New York Times, 7 March 2015), asserts that Gaza is held under an unjust siege by Israel and Egypt, the quality of life there is subpar, and many innocent civilians are at a disadvantage under the stranglehold of the bordering, more powerful countries. He uses the pathos appeal by bringing in the story of 8-year old Rabah, who dreams of being a doctor but has no shoes to wear, and dreams of having toys to play with but because he does not, he plays with the remains of the rockets Israel fires in his neighborhood. Kristof proceeds to use anecdote to show that even though Hamas is the only threat coming from Gaza, the innocent citizens are being unfairly targeted. His purpose is to persuade the reader that what is going on in the Middle East is unjust, and his audience is everyone in the United States, as he pleads in the last paragraph for help from the United States to urge the surrounding countries to ease their blockade.

Personal Response

A great man once said: "There are two sides to every story." While Kristof's piece evokes some sympathetic feelings for the Gazans and their suffering, I know personally that there is much more to this picture. Since 2005, rockets have been fired into Israel non-stop, especially in small towns such as Sderot and Ashkelon. There have been over 11,000 rockets fired, with only 15 seconds to find shelter when the alarm is heard around the area. In 2014, Israel invented the technological juggernaut Iron Dome, a rocket interceptor which successfully blocks incoming rockets if it detects that the rocket will land in a populated area.
Many times in these situations, the more powerful force is believed to be the "bad guy" because they impose their will on the underdog. Just because Gaza does not have the resources to defend themselves and attack Israel properly, they cannot expect to host one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world, Hamas, and go untouched by the affected countries. It is unfortunate that Gazans are living under low quality conditions, but instead of doing everything in their power to fix Israel, they should maybe look at their own country and see if they are doing things to help their own cause.