Abstract

In 1939 Kenneth Burke's book review of Mein Kampf, in isolating how the “crude magic” of Nazism worked, called for rhetorical critics to enter the social and political scene of the day by resisting strongman rule wherever it appeared: “[A] people trained in pragmatism should want to inspect this magic” (Philosophy 192). George W. Bush, who also had “crude magic,” used the Hitlerian rhetoric of a common enemy and a geographic center in order to realign post 9/11 attitudes sufficient to identify the non-Western other as a common enemy, to convert New York's fallen Twin Towers into a new and noneconomic symbol of US government, and to transform himself from a lazy cowboy into a medicine-man.

Journal
Rhetoric Review
Published
2011-10-01
DOI
10.1080/07350198.2011.604608
Open Access
Closed
Topics

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Rhetoric Review

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Also cites 7 works outside this index ↓
  1. Becoming President: The Bush Transition, 2001–2003
  2. 10.1353/rap.2003.0059
    Rhetoric & Public Affairs  
  3. Djupe, Paul, A., McDaniel, Eric and Jacob, R. 2007.Neiheisel. “The Politics of the Religious Minorities Vote …
  4. 10.1017/S1537592705050334
    Perspectives on Politics  
  5. 10.1080/10570310409374786
  6. 10.1353/rap.2004.0013
    Rhetoric & Public Affairs  
  7. Religion and the Bush Presidency
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