The prescient rhetorician: The end of the war with Iran
I have been a professor of rhetoric and communication for over a half-century. Here is my rhetorical prediction for the
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Richard E. Vatz https://wp.towson.edu/vatz/ is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of political rhetoric at Towson University and author of The Only Authentic of Persuasion: the Agenda-Spin Model (Bookwrights House, 2024) and over 200 other works, essays, lectures, and op-eds. He is the benefactor of the Richard E. Vatz Best Debater Award at Towson. The Van Bokkelen Auditorium at Towson University has been named after him.
Author: Richard E. Vatz, Ph.D
The most uninformed and dangerous argument against American attacks on Iran
I have been a professor of rhetoric and communication for over 50 years, and when I see manifestly illogical justifications
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Polarized America: A Personal Odyssey
Just observing some of the rancorous give-and-take on my conservative Facebook site and in my career: The country, it is
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News Credibility, Political Consequences and the Case of ICE
Prof. Robert P. Newman, the late head of the William Pitt Debating Union at the University of Pittsburgh, was one
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The Zohran Mamdani and Donald Trump Love Fest: Undressed by the Unaddressed
As a looooogtime (sic) practitioner of analyzing persuasive communication, let me tell you what to make of the Mamdani-Trump love
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Follow-ups: Critical in Politics and The Case of Katie Porter
California’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter may have lost next year’s gubernatorial race through her resistance to a simple follow-up and her cocky, profane demeanor when she ended an interview by testily objecting to her interviewer’s insistence on asking follow-up questions.
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Meet the Press: Tradition Perdition
Throughout my young adulthood, the news and journalistic analysis show Meet the Press was the model of its kind. The closing self-tribute, “If it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press” was iterated without embarrassment.
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Dr. Thomas Szasz and Invalid Theories of Violence in Today’s Violent America
But this piece is not about a particular event; it is about the ubiquity in public discourse of mental illness being the cause of every violent, unusual and/or simply off-putting-to-the-observer action of those who are the subject of official or unofficial actions or thoughts.
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Reasonable Optimism on Iran – Sleep Well
President Trump was frustrated by the military actions of Iran and Israel following his announcement of a ceasefire among Iran,
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Mental Illness: Hyperliberalism Run Amuck with Skeptics No Longer in Sight
Colleagues and I have written for decades on the widespread acceptance of the perspectives of psychiatry and psychology and how such starting points have provided the left in our country excuses for bad and illegal behavior.
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