Not My Presidents Day Protests

Presentation: https://genius.com/11556001

Analysis:

Right – https://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=51319a964e12e5892327230e737cdc37

Left – https://voyant-tools.org/?corpus=5de6d60d2a3d032d05368c51962c2c1e

Limbaugh: ‘Not My President’s Day’ Protests an ‘Abject Failure’

Breitbart : http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/02/21/limbaugh-not-presidents-day-protests-abject-failure/

By Jeff Poor 21 Feb 2017 4:20

Tuesday on his [nationally syndicated radio show, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh][1] declared Monday’s “Not My President’s Day” protests to be a failure.

According to Limbaugh, [this protest and other movements are losing steam because they are having little impact on President Donald Trump and will continue to diminish as they begin to be ignored by most of the public.][2]

Transcript as follows (courtesy of RushLimbaugh.com):

Yesterday was “Not My President’s Day,” right? It was Presidents’ Day for most people, [but then the left had planned gigantic mobilization of protests and riots against Trump called the “Not My President’s Day.”] [3]

[Here’s the headline of the Associated Press: “Thousands of Demonstrators Across U.S. Say ‘Not My President.’” But! But! If you go to the individual locations in this same story. In Chicago, several hundred rallied. In Washington, D.C., several hundred rallied. In Atlanta, dozens marched. Hundreds of protesters in Salt Lake City. But wait a minute. The headline says “thousands.” Why is this even a story? It was an {abject failure!}{4}They didn’t get what they thought.][5] [They wanted to replicate what happened on the weekend after Trump’s travel ban was announced, that executive order.][6]

They wanted to replicate that. Who told you they wouldn’t be able to do it? Who told you that they wouldn’t be able to keep this up? And who was it that mocked me for saying it on The View? That would have been the lovely and gracious (ahem) Joy Behar, asking that of [Elizabeth Fauxcahontas Warren. You know what Fauxcahontas Warren][7] said in response to the question? (screaming) [“I’m gonna tell you what, Rush. We’re not gonna get tired of it. There’s no way we’re gonna get tired. You better get used to it, Rush, because here we’re and we’re not gonna tire.”][8]

Well, the numbers are starting to deteriorate.

[Either they ran out of money to pay ’em or the transportation system broke down to get ’em there or else it’s just starting to lose a little bit of its luster. And you know why it will? ‘Cause it isn’t affecting anything. Trump’s not crying. Trump’s not on TV begging them to stop. Trump’s not promising to resign. Trump’s out there trying to implement his agenda, which means he’s not paying any attention. The worst thing can happen these people is to be ignored.] [9]

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POLITICS 02/20/2017 03:08 pm ET | Updated Feb 20, 2017

Huffington Post : http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/not-my-presidents-day-protests_us_58ab1f9ce4b07602ad56cece

Thousands Rally At Anti-Trump ‘Not My Presidents Day’ Events

People around the country spent the holiday speaking out against the president’s agenda.

By Kate Abbey-Lambertz , Hayley Miller , Kim Bellware

[Many people typically see Presidents Day as a chance to honor great leaders or enjoy a three-day weekend.][10] But this year, thousands of people are marking the holiday by protesting President Donald Trump.

“Not My Presidents Day” rallies are taking place Monday in more than two dozen cities, including Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Austin, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Denver and Washington, D.C.

Olga Lexell, 24, helped plan the protest at LA’s city hall. The Facebook invite for the event spurred interest from other cities, and Lexell recruited volunteers in New York and Chicago to set up protests there. Most of the sister rallies were organized independently by grassroots volunteers and are focused on how Trump’s plans affect their cities.

Lexell said LA residents are most concerned [with “the immigration ban, losing our health care, deportation raids, anti-climate policies, sanctuary city funding and the wall that Trump thinks he’s going to put up.”][11]

Protesters in the city shouted [“Lock him up,” echoing the anti-Hillary Clinton “Lock her up!” chant][12] that was common at Trump’s campaign rallies.

Thousands of people also rallied in New York, gathering outside Trump International Hotel and Tower to hoist colorful signs that [defended refugees, condemned the president’s Cabinet picks, and called for his impeachment.][13] [Families and individuals of all ages chanted “Not my president!”][14] and [“Black lives matter!”][15]

Mercedes Vizcaino, 42, works in New York City and came to Monday’s protest with a friend who is a science teacher.

{“I think it’s important to take a stand and not be complicit about what’s going on in the country,” Vizcaino said. {“Democracy as we know it is being challenged. … My freedoms that I’ve cherished and perhaps never thought about disappearing, right now I know they may be taken away.”}{16}][17]

[Bryan Berge, an attorney for the city of New York, came to the protest with his two daughters, ages 5 and 3.

“[Trump’s] policy ideas are very frightening and the people he listens to are ideological zealots who have no place in the higher rungs of government,” he said.][18]

[Berge, 33, said he was concerned about how Trump’s policies will affect his daughters’ future.][19]

[“The risk of a debilitating trade war or an actual war is higher than it’s been in many, many years,” he said.][20]

Richard Rumph, a retired New York City elementary school teacher, said he couldn’t recall attending a rally before Trump took office. He joined in on Monday partly because he objects to Betsy DeVos, the education secretary.

“DeVos basically has no understanding of public education,” said Rumph, 66. [“She’s going to push charter schools and public education is going to go down the tubes.”][21]

In Chicago, several hundred protesters rallied outside Trump International Hotel and Tower. People listed a number of concerns that brought them out to the protest — including immigration, funding for science and arts programs, reproductive rights and what they referred to as [Trump’s “immature” and “authoritarian” tendencies.][22]

[Bianca Castro, 15, had a day off school for Presidents Day and attended the Chicago protest with two of her friends. The three young women noted some of their classmates and friends — especially undocumented immigrants — feel a new level of fear under Trump.][23]

[“They’re staying home. Some of their parents have been taken away or warned,” Bianca said.][24]

The “Not My Presidents Day” events are the latest in a wave of protests that have followed Trump’s inauguration, starting with the women’s marches on Jan. 21. [After Trump imposed a contentious executive order halting refugee resettlement and travelers][25] [from several Muslim-majority countries][26], protesters rallied at airports around the country. Last week, the “Day Without Immigrants” movement inspired rallies and shuttered businesses nationwide.

[“Pretty much all of the people who volunteered to help us organize turned out to be women,” Lexell told The Huffington Post in an email. “Women are really leading the charge with the anti-Trump resistance.”][27]

[Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (D) was in the crowd in Chicago, gathering signatures for a local ballot initiative. He said the uptick in protests since inauguration was necessary in the Trump era.][28]

[“Freedom of assembly, freedom to protest, freedom of the press — these are all freedoms under attack by Trump,” Quinn said. “We’re going to resist authoritarianism. That’s what Trump is — an authoritarian.”][29]

Trump tweeted last month that Americans have the right to protest, but soon returned to criticizing the rallies.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer has also claimed that protesters sometimes get paid to demonstrate.

Lexell said Monday’s protests had mostly been organized through Facebook and word of mouth. She planned the LA event with Heather Mason, one of her friends.

“I don’t think either of us had ever organized any kind of protest or rally of this size before, but it just felt like something we had to do to have our voices heard,” Lexell said. [“Lately I’ve been afraid because of the overwhelming anti-immigrant sentiment he’s building; I’m an immigrant myself, so that’s terrifying to me.”][30]

Mason, 28, said she thinks Californians have a responsibility to lead the resistance to the administration’s efforts.

[“After Trump was elected I cried and was physically ill honestly,” Mason said. “I felt miserable and depressed for days. And then I joined the Action Group Network and began brainstorming with friends as to what we could do to feel less useless.”][31]

Lexell added that for her, the only upside to Trump’s win was that she’d gotten more involved in politics, donating to progressive causes and organizing with groups like the Sister District Project.

“My entire ‘recent calls’ list on my cellphone is all members of Congress, which is definitely new for me,” she said.

Annotations:

1. Ethos: talking about his talk show that is listened to across the nation is important because it gives him credibility and shows his expertise.
2. Logos: people tend to give up after enough time if they do not gain or keep attention. Therefore, the argument made that movements will slow as they lose an audience is reasonable.
3. Class: left versus right leaning, the only time a separation of people is stated. It can be important because if people are not being referred to in separate groups could mean that the issue involves everyone.
4. Logos: the author gives the actual numbers of protestors at each location and then explains that the headline was wrong because the math does not add up.
5. Ethos: saying it was a massive failure shows the authors’ bias.
6. Race: could be inferred as relating to race, but is far-fetched and not the primary focus of the article.
7. Against the Person: although the speaker had a logical argument, he uses a nickname for his opponent. The name itself is known because the woman lied about being Native America; however, the name was not necessary to get the speakers point across.
8. Pathos: this could be viewed as indirectly trying to inspire others by her expression of passion and persistence.
9. Logos: even though people may not agree, he makes a statement saying that their effort will lose energy because it is having little to no impact on the president.
   Appeal to Ignorance: saying that because people may be ignored by the president does not necessarily mean that the movement will weaken; it could grow in order to force the president to deal with the issues.
10. False Dichotomy: the author makes it seem as if people can see the holiday in one of two ways, which is not necessarily true. Regardless of how one may see it given the two options, the authors say something contradicting in the following sentence; that people used the 2017 President’s Day to protest the most recently inaugurated president, Donald Trump.
11. Ethos: phrasing things in such a way to make them have a negative association.
    Pathos: the speaker may be trying to appeal to those with similar feelings and possibly to inspire anger perhaps in order to prompt action.
12. Gender/Ethos: using the same phrase but changing the pronoun to demonstrate the disapproval of a certain person.
13. Ethos: the particular words used can insight feelings in the reader based on if the author would like them to support or disagree with the idea.
14. Class: the author writes in such a way that it shows that people of all different types were involved in the protest.
15. Race: one of the few times race is explicitly mentioned, which is important because it shows the variety of people taking part in the protest.
16. Pathos: talking about their freedoms being taken away can be viewed as a powerful statement and attempt to inspire others to prevent such a thing.
17. No True Scotsman: it can be inferred that if one cares about their freedoms then they must take a stand to protect them; otherwise they do not care because they do not put forth the effort. It is important to recognize that people may view it differently, they may not think their freedoms are being challenged and therefore are not out protesting.
18. Ethos: a well-educated attorney used more complex words and phrasing shows that there are all types of people who are displeased.
19. Pathos: a father worried about the future of his child can have deep meaning, to parents in particular.
20. False Dichotomy: the quote makes it seem as if there are only two options—to have a trading conflict or have an actual war—in reality, it is unlikely that there are only those two possibilities. It is important to notice because the ethos makes it seem horrible either way; therefore, causing a sense of worry which is not necessarily true.
21. Slippery Slope: although it is not certain, just because Betsy DeVos may push charter schools does not mean that public education is certainly going to diminish.
22. Ethos: using certain words to make President Trump’s character be questioned.
    Against the Person: even though people may not agree with Trump’s views does not mean he is “immature” or “authoritarian.” Instead, they call him such things when they do not necessarily have proof that he is such a person.
23. Class: the author includes information about the younger generation in order to show the fear that people of all ages have. Also, undocumented immigrants as a class because they are one of the groups of people that have an especially large fear due to the election of Trump.
24. Pathos: the idea of a child’s parents being taken away can be frightening to most.
25. Ethos/Pathos: saying President Trump stopped allowing refugees and travelers can be an emotional topic to people and the words chosen can cause others to be empathetic.
26. Race: relating specifically to religion as well, the specificity of the banned areas will have a deeper meaning to those who relate to said areas. It is important because had the author not said where the bans were applied people may not have been as emotionally attached.
27. Gender: a clear example of a gender segregation, which can be important because many women took offense from the comments Donald Trump has said.
    Appeal to the People: saying that women are leading the charge can be a way to incite more women to help or to try and get men’s’ attention about their possible lack of involvement.
28. Logos: including a former government official gives the protest a sense of legitimacy because they have served the public and have an idea of what it entails. If they are worried about the “Trump era” it provides Americans with a similar sense of worry.
29. Pathos/Logos: to list the freedoms that Americans are given in the Bill of Rights, to say they are being attacked, and then to state that the person challenging them is an authoritarian is a logical argument process. It is also important because the idea of freedom is important to everyone, and to declare that they could be taken away can very likely evoke emotional responses.
30. Logos/Ethos: a reasonable process, she is afraid of the anti-immigrant mindset because she is an immigrant, which gives her credibility.
31. Pathos: the protestor may be trying to appeal and relate to others by sharing her personal feelings after Trump was elected. Especially by sharing the fact that she joined a group to start taking action so that she felt she was helping cause a change.

Conclusion:

Neither article focuses on race, class or gender. They are mentioned in a sense by separating democrats/liberals from republicans/conservatives and when talking about the travel ban. The first article, including Rush Limbaugh, was heavily logos-filled and had few fallacies or things that fell under logos and/or pathos. On the other hand, the second article is more ethos and pathos oriented. It did have logical arguments; however, it included large amounts or quotes from protestors and relations to them. The authors appealed to their readers’ emotions but also contained several fallacies. One interesting thing I did notice was that when analyzing both articles at the same time, “Trump” and “said” followed the same pattern; however, it varied in whether it was saying that Trump said something or someone was saying something about Trump.

In relation to my topic of how the media covers protests, I wanted to see how two sources on opposite sides of the political spectrum covered the “Not My Presidents Day”

The first article was not attacking the protestors themselves; rather Rush Limbaugh used logical arguments to say that their efforts would soon fail because they were not impacting President Trump. He also pointed out the inaccuracy of a headline. He did not go into detail as much as he did speak about the protests against President Trump as a whole, saying that overall the protests will not last. Therefore, the article did not do the best job of covering the “Not My Presidents Day” protests in detail.

The second article looked much more closely at the protests on February 20. The authors did a good job covering the events by getting quotes from not only leaders of the movement, but also protestors who gathered all over the country (New York City, Chicago, and California). The authors did present facts but did not use logos as much as they did ethos and pathos. Being a liberal source, it makes sense that the article goes into such a detailed report supporting the cause unlike the other source.