Ted Talk Outline

When talking about the history of the Democratic Party its important to talk about not only the decision makers but the voters. The face of the Democratic Party changed rapidly and I feel through the Democratic Conventions you can tell a story of how years by years the party demographic began to change. I will integrate videos and pictures from more recent conventions and tell the stories of old ones I feel appropriate. While my paper will be much more about the history of the entire party, I find the conventions the best way to portray the changing demographics of the parties electorate.

The Presentation will start in modern day with the current face of the Democratic party, then I will go back to the beginning and work my way back up to the present. It will be given in a different order than my paper but it will go through the history in a more American people-centric ideology. It will fully explain how we got from a white-supremacist party to the party of the first African-American to how even you could be the nominee of the Democratic Party and could elevate yourself to the highest office in the land through the Democratic Party. The point of both my essay and my talk is how the party evolved and how this evolution affects the every day American.

Topic: The History of the Democratic Party

Purpose: Demonstrating a shift of how America evolved to be more democratic and representative over time, and how now anyone could become at least a nominee for President of the United States.

 

Introduction
Attention Strategy/
Orienting Material: Not set on which one yet but I will probably start with a speech from a Democratic Convention from 1996 to present.

Body
Main Idea – The Democratic Party is a party that represents all Americans in 21st Century America.

The current faces of the Party.

Main Idea (2) – It wasn’t always this way? Where did it start?
Jackson-Civil War. Who were the main faces of the party.
Civil War-FDR and LBJ Nominating Convention
New Deal and the Great Society

Main Idea (3) – The Party Today.
A. The Clintons and Obama and the party of Unions and Dreamers as opposed to Rich White “Plantation Owners” and the poor masses.

 

Conclusion
Concluding Remark – The Party has come along way since it was lead by Jackson. His political party would become something he would deplore. Yet it representes the changes in America overtime and how we became a more democratic country and how everyone can now have their voice heard in politics and not just the few and every can fight to be represented in our country.

RCL Paradigm Shift Blog

The paradigm shift in the Democratic Party is a gradual shift over time from its origins under Andrew Jackson to it’s eventual position in todays America being the opposition party to President Trump’s majority. In order to effectively portray the shift, four distinct periods need to be talked about in detail.

Jackson to the Civil War. The founding under Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party’s position as he founded the party. How the democratic party advanced democracy but was openly racist against African-Americans and American Indians. How the party took ingrained itself in the south. How the democrats became the party of the succeionists and to Andrew Johnson coming into power at the end of the war.

Reconstruction through the end/beginning of the Century. The effect of Reconstruction affected how the Democratic Party rebuilt and re-established its base as southern states were added back to the Union. The Democrats also established a tradition of Bourbon Democrats who were aligned with conservatism and classic liberalism. The Party still was installed in racist roots and regained its footing as the main power in the south but struggled to beat Republicans in elections and eventually lead them to William Jennings Bryan. The party took control again with Woodrow Wilson and he set the U.S Government in a new direction. The party didn’t really move in a new direction as a Racist Wilson was propped up by his majority racist party, while enacting change and winning a World War. The KKK comes into being during this time and the party continues to represent the worst parts of America.

Great Depression and the New Deal Coalition: The election of FDR changes the game. FDR isn’t from the same breed of past Democratic presidents. Under FDR the democrats base slowly begins to move to the Northeast. The 1948 Democratic Convention is the beginning of the end of the democratic party as we know it with the emergence of Dixiecrats and the party begins to crack and split. The party begins to represent the African-American as opposed to be against them and the south begins to shift as the Republicans begin to see gains to be made in the south.

The 1960s to the present. JFK and LBJ end the democratic party as we know it. When LBJ passes the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act everything changes. The South will never vote Democrat again. Nixon’s southern strategy also changes things. The Democrats rule the middle 20th century with FDR’s four terms and Harry S. Truman, JFK and LBJ. The failure’s of the Carter administration sends the power back to the Republicans but Clinton is able to take back power at the end of the century running as a middle of the road democrat. The party embraces Progressive policies and the parties have completely switched because of the parties stances of Civil Rights. In the 2000s America had changed so much that in 2008, 2012, and 2016 the parties leaders became an African-American man and a Woman, things unseen before in American History. The party of Jackson, the KKK and institutionalized racism became the party of the middle class, unions, minorities and immigrants.

In my essay it will follow this format. I will go in chronological order detailing the biggest events that lead to change in the party and more into why and how than this quick overview. The story is much bigger than this overview and the changing views of America have impacted who the main political parties represent and how were represented as the American People is important to our everyday lives.

RCL Blog #7

Linsey Addario at her wedding

Iraqi’s watching a 3D movie in Baghdad

In “Its What I Do” a major portion of the book is dedicated to photography, so naturally there would be pictures in the book. I don’t need to ramble on about all the cliches about the power of pictures but in Linsey Addario’s novel there are some powerful pictures. Now the pictures don’t have page numbers so I will just include the photos in here. My favorite pictures are the ones from Addario’s wedding and the picture of the Iraqi’s watching a 3D film in Baghdad. In a novel filled with war and death and kidnappings and misery, I’ve enjoyed the peaceful moments in the novel. Seeing the joy of her wedding or the tranquility in watching them at the movies is enjoyable because you can enjoy the relaxing moments of life. They look happy in these photos and that’s what life is really about, the moments in which one is truly happy. They capture the beauty and intensity of life, but also the happiness.

In my passion blogs I could include photos to this extent by showing the people that I am writing about in a natural and laid back context. Athletes and actors are often caught in photos relaxing even when they may live a high strung lifestyle. You catch photos of them laughing on the field or in practice or at rehearsals and it reminds you that these people are human, even as they work as hard as they do. I could also provide visuals to show who I am discussing. In my last passion post I could’ve included photos go Colin Kaepernick and in my first one photos of Wally Richardson and so on and so forth. There are hundreds of photos that have captured the beauty of sports and their athletes and of actors and the intensity of their performances, and I could put them to good use in future blog posts.

 

RCL #6

Linsey Addario went through a lot of conflict in her life but the one that seemed most human to me was her conflict with herself on what her future with kids should be. On the very last page of part one, Addario settles this conflict with a solution that is good for everyone deciding how long she would be on birth control and when she would get pregnant. She was also juggling this with her ever complicated and busy professional career. I have never had a conflict this extreme yet in my life, but in my passion blogs I can connect her struggles to the topics I write about.

Sports and The Theater are filled with conflict. Every game is a conflict and every play has a conflict. It’s what makes these things go. Yet inside of these two institutions there are people who fight their own battles everyday and especially people who fight between their personal lives and their careers. NFL players have been retiring at record numbers and extraordinarily young because of the health risks of football. They are balancing the medical risks of their professions with the quality of life they will live and it is very hard for them to make these decisions. Athletes in other sports also have to decide when enough injuries are enough and it is time to walk away. Players like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson literally played until their health degenerated to the point they couldn’t take the court anymore. Female Athletes have to make decisions like Addario because getting pregnant means time away form whatever their respective sport may be.

In Theater Actors and Actresses walk away when they believe they aren’t spending enough time with their family or when acting takes too much of a mental toll on their health. Actresses also have to make the tough choice when it comes to family as they lose time and money as well to start families. It is also tough to find jobs in the profession to begin with, so for many the conflict is when to give up on the dream to be in the theater and when they think that big break will finally come.
These kinds of conflicts are what make the people behind these great industries interesting and complex people. Behind the outright conflicts of Team Vs Team or inside of a show, there are people like You, Me and Addario. Struggling with the same dreams of starting a family, living healthy lifestyles and living their dreams, just like the rest of us.

RCL #5 Rhetorical Analysis Draft

The New York Times plays an important role in our society and while its sales are still strong, it is entering a society where newspapers are dying. They are dying while cable news grows. You can’t tell the story of news in America without the New York Times, or its cable counterpart. Since it’s inception in 1980 CNN has grown into America’s 24 hour cable news giant. It comes under the same criticism as the New York Times yet it does the same job. It delivers the news. CNN and the New York Times open to a very interesting conversation about the nature of news, and partisanship in the news in 21st century America. CNN has a different role in society because the people are visible to criticism while writers in the timescan hide their faces behind print. The standards for news are different for both yet both need to inform their audience of the days events.

They take different approaches but at the end of the day they both end with often the same results. The New York times however has more time and money for investigative reporting, while CNN often finds itself with a breaking news banner running stories about something that may have happened hours ago. CNN needs ratings to stay afloat and so it needs to keep people tuned in. The New York Times needs readers but it has more freedom on what it will publish in its pages. The two media sources need to balance Pop Culture, News and investigative journalism. As time goes on CNN finds itself pulled from investigative journalism as it needs to keep an audience 24 hours a day in a crowded market, while the NY Times market slowly declines over time. The two media giants have to find new footing and a new role in a brand new America. The decisions these networks make in the coming years will affect how the news will be presented in years to come and in my rhetorical analysis I will analyze the similiarities between the two, the roles of them, their past and their present and their role in the future of news.

NY Times RCL Speech Draft

“Deadly Storm Transforms Houston Streets Into Raging Rivers” That was the main headline of the New York Times on August 28th, 2017. Since 1851 you can expect these kind of direct, journalistic headlines from the Times in its’ classic and nationally recognizable font. You can also expect award winning journalism, as in its history it has won over 100 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other paper in the world. The New York Times has been one of the most important journalistic institutions in the United States in the 19th, 20th and 21st century. The newspaper has been rated as one of the most reputable sources of news in the country. It has covered every single major American event since the Civil War and has been instrumental in recent American history. Its’ powerful political influence began when it took on Tammany Hall’s corruption in NYC in the latter half of the nineteenth century and by the 1940s it was being shipped nationally. The paper’s influence spread and began to take shape into what it is today.

Simply put, the NY Times helps Americans fulfill their civic duty by delivering them the news taking place in the country and the world.. By doing this patriotic duty it keeps Americans literate and knowledgeable. It keeps them engaged in current events and what is happening in their government and otherwise in the world. It offers a whole view of the world from Sports and Arts to opinions from dozens of writers who all compete to be featured on the opinion pages of the Times.

The Times has also performed its civic duty when it has challenged the laws of the United States government and has exposed scandals and has pushed the boundaries of investigative journalism. In 1964 the Times went to the Supreme Court in a landmark case that expanded Freedom of the press for all newspapers. The case established a precedent in the use of malice in the media and it placed a burden of proof on the plaintiff to prove they had been libeled so that Newspapers could legally criticize public figures. In the Case of NY Times V Sullivan the Times defended a suit against a Montgomery civil servant who claimed the Times published an advertisement that he believed was libeling him. The Times won and expanded the freedoms of the press in the United States

The paper also went head to head with the United States government in 1971 by publishing the Pentagon Papers, which were documents on the Vietnam War that had been leaked to them. The government didn’t want them publishing these documents and sued the Times for what they claimed was the sake of national security. The Times believed the people had a right to know what the government was doing, as it was their job. The case again went to the Supreme Court and again the Times won landmark freedoms for the press in the United States. The Times had again performed their civic duty of informing the people and maintained their journalistic integrity. Their tagline has been “All the News that’s fit to print” and that is what they have done.

In recent years the Times role as the “newspaper of record” has been called into question. It has been referred to as “failing”, “fake news” and “Sad!” Those are only a few of the insults they’ve endured over the last couple years but the liberal bias it has had for years is now being criticized more and more in our polarized society. Yet while it has come under these attacks, the newspaper has done the same thing it has done since day one; it publishes the news that the American public needs.. Their mission has always been to search for the truth and give it to the American People and in that way, The New York Times fulfills its civic mission to the citizens of the United States and the World.

RCL Blog #3

I’ve lived 15 out of my 17 years in Post-9/11 America, but for Addario the experience was new and it especially meant her entire life would change. She spent time in Pakistan and Afghanistan but in the excerpt of this part that effected me the most she was in Baghdad. She describes the building they are staying in and it becomes what seems like a safe home in Iraq. “Eventually the Times house became a fortress…” she goes onto to describe the human aspect of a war zone. The compound, the love and the sex. It sounded like liberation in a war zone, and I really appreciate this aspect of Addario’s writing. The choice to describe everyday life for her in a war zone is a rather effective and strong one and one you see throughout the book, but is one of her best qualities. The calm in the storm is almost leisurely to read until the book swings back to war. The entire book really touches on the human aspect of war, but this description of them feeling almost safe is a nice touch on describing how they really live.

I could use this advice in my writing because it reminds me it doesn’t have to be serious all the time. There is of course the story you want to tell, but its nice to take a break and tell the side stories. Especially stories of elicit love and feelings of freedom and so on and so forth. In politics, theater and sports, you can often find these moments. It’s what happens in the backrooms, the lorckerrooms and the green rooms. What’s happening when these people aren’t working in the public eye. It reminds me of the famous “King of all Kings” piece about Muhammad Ali’s out of the boxing ring life. Sometimes you need to pull away and find what’s true in the world. It’s what is reliving about Addario’s writing, and it is what I would like to try and incorporate in future pieces if I can find the space or time to do it without pulling away from my original message.

RCL Blog #2

In the first part of “It’s what I do”, Lynsey Addario provides the exposition as to how she gets involved in her career as a photojournalist and the tales of her early life. Near the end of the first part she tells an anecdote about her grandmother and he tale of forgotten passion and love in its purest form. It is added in this section as Addario is telling her audience and reminding herself not to let love and passionate kisses pass us by. If it feels right to Addario, she’s going to follow it. It’s her gut that she follows in this novel to make most of her decisions and leads her around the world into the faces of war. For Addario, he works is her passion, but she is sure to not let love slip through her fingertips. She keeps this story in her heart as to never forget to lose sight as to what is really important to her.

The story that defines my passion is being shaped as we speak. My call to action in the political realm is unfolding every day. I will never forget the days after the 2016 election. I personally didn’t go to school the next day as to take a mental health day. I remember waking up and seeing my sister and mother sitting on the couches crying. I remember turning on the news and seeing countless Americans crying as well. I called my friends and they too were shaken to their core. It reminded me how these elections affect us all. Millions of people were going to be affected negatively as a result of the election and I will never forget the pain felt by people around the country that day. That pain will always remind me as a call of action and will always be reason to fight for what I believe in and my passions.

Stories of kisses and tears are important in human lives. They both create a call to action in different ways. They are both often unforgettable turning points in a person’s life. They are reasons to fight, and reasons why I will always continue to fight for what I believe in and convey my messages in any means necessary.

RCL Blog #1 It’s What I Do

Lynsey Addario’s quest for finding happiness has taken her to war torn places of the world where the carnage and political climate create situations that make them some of the worst places on earth. For Addario, it’s her definition of “Nice Work if You Can Get It.” She gets a front row view of life in many corners of the world. From the United States to Libya and Afghanistan, wherever the drums of conflict sound, she is there. She gets to travel around the world to seek out and document people’s lives for her living.  She brings these stories from their birthplaces to people around the world.  Her passion involves living a dangerous and fulfilling life that allows her to have love, a family, and a career. At the end of the day, followings one’s passions are what makes life fulfilling. My passions may be much less riveting than Addario’s but they don’t make them any less valid. What fulfills people is different on an individual basis.

I have three passions that really make me who I am as a person.

I love politics, I love theater and I love sports. I was raised and nurtured by these three things.   I love the stories the three of them get to tell and how they affect people’s lives and how illustrative they are to our own experience.  The competitive aspects of all three and the real-world implications of these results meld together in strange ways in my brain.  So much of my intellectual contemplations and my participatory energies go in to these three areas of my existence.

Some may argue that sports may not often have real-world implications but the thrill of participating in a game is all too satisfying.  When you participate there is a special feeling that comes with winning.  And even in losing, we are taught a lot about life though whether we win or lose we feel the passion for involvement.

Often, sports stories have heavy political implications and are quite meaningful. The triumphs of athletes like Jesse Owens, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Tommy Smith and John Carlos, and countless others have contributed greatly to my passion for sports and have affected my political views. These athletes had great impact on the political climate of their times by following their passions and stand up for principals to influence change in the world.

Theater has also meshed with politics in every historical age. Playwrights, actors and directors often take stands when they find the political climate unfair and knowing the progressive nature of the theater, they place their political commitment on stage.  The AIDS crisis ripped through the theater community and together they began to write and perform and take a stand. This past year after a performance of Hamilton where Vice President Mike Pence was attending, the cast addressed a speech to him as to how he could make lives better for all Americans. Then of course there is theater as what it is, Art. When I saw the production of Fun Home on Broadway, I had no idea how emotionally impactful the show would be. That’s what good theater can really do. It can shake a person to the core of their worldview and make a deep emotional impact they will carry for life.

The most important thing I derive from these three passions, is how they inspire me to action. My love for sports drove me to play baseball “for the love of the game” until I ran out of leagues to play in.   I started my own set of games with friends. How I got up on the stage, playing whatever parts I could, just for the thrill of hearing the laughter and thunderous applause of an audience. I had this drive to make people feel that emotional connection from impactful dramatic productions or the emotional relief of laughter when the audience laughs at something you did (I don’t mean by flubbing lines).   How in all these endeavors, I was a part of a team, something bigger than just myself. It was something really worthwhile.

Politics has inspired me to become a political science major at Penn State. I want to really get out and change the world. Now I don’t want to be some cliché ridden mad-men who talks about how “I alone can fix it.” I wouldn’t lie like that. I can’t fix it alone. I want to get involved and have the platform of a stage, or a field and really drive change in this country. The reason people like Jackie Robinson and Tommy Smith and John Carlos have such an impact on me is because they stood up for issues out there in our country that have been around for hundreds of years and we need to deal with them. We can’t sit around idly and let our country fall apart, which is the way things seem to be heading. We need things like sports and theater to give us a break from things that may seem tough, but at the end of the day I need to throw my hat into the political arena and do whatever I can to drive change in my country and in my world. These are the things that at the end of the day, truly matter to me.

When I sit down like Lynsey Addario and try and write about my passions in an eloquent and life changing fashion, I am really driven to be a life changer. I want to be someone who gets a big enough political stage to actually change policy and improve people’s quality of life in this country. Theater and Sports often demonstrate stories of common, yet gifted Americans. They bring to us stories that can teach us why we need to be the change in the world. If it were up to me, I would be the first Tony-Award Winning member of the Baseball Hall of Fame to be elected President of the United States.

Unfortunately, I am confined by my singing and dancing ability and my inability to throw a ball 100 MPH or hit a ball 450 feet. Yet, I have a voice and I have words and a drive to climb and I will use them to the best of my ability to bring meaningful and long-lasting change to those issues that inform my passions. This passion and drive will be examined over the course of my Passion blog.  I will write about these three things and how the lines between them blur and ultimately how they affect me as a human being.