On March 5, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) gave his first inaugural address to the United States. It was at a time when the county’s confidence was at its lowest point. Roosevelt’s first speech needed to address the concerns of the country.   

Analysis of Roosevelt’s inaugural speech to the United States revealed elements of Cicero’s concepts of public speaking.  According to Cicero, “invention” refers to an effective approach to a topic in which a speech must be made. The United States suffered a crisis of confidence. Roosevelt’s address needed to exude a sense of vigor and action; this theme ultimately became the approach in which he employed in his first address to American public. The concept of vigor and action is what Cicero would’ve called the focus of Roosevelt’s speech or the invention stage which occurred before the speech was written. Cicero identifies this stage as the most important part of the rhetorical process.

In the third sentence of his speech, Roosevelt’s comments became words of inspiration that have been remembered for many decades. Roosevelt says, “So first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”  These opening comments are found in what Cicero identifies as the Exordium. Cicero claimed the exordium brings the mind to a suitable state to receive the rest of the speech and renders the audience well dispose toward the speaker.

The mere fact that Roosevelt was elected President signified the trust and confidence the American people had in his abilities to return the country to solid ground. This trust alone establishes the basis of the honourable cause that Cicero describes as the disposition in which a hearer favours at once, without waiting to hear the speech.

The rest of Roosevelt’s address reinforced his optimism for the future prosperity of the country.  For example, FDR stated, “nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it meaning;” we have a country and plenty of resources. “We must act and act quickly.”  This is was another exhibition of FDR’s confidence and optimism in the countries ability to overcome adversity.  These examples reinforce the good-will that is derived from the hearers themselves according to Cicero.

While many of you will finish this post in probably 15 or 20 minutes, I will invest somewhere between 45 to 60 minutes just getting through the initial draft before making my final review for goofs. But, I think it important to do so. In a world where perceptions become reality you never want to send out the wrong message.

The ability to communicate in this world is essential. I have personally seen coworkers send emails or technical reports to engineers and executive managers that were riddled with grammatical errors. As a result of other peoples embarrassing moments, I send a great deal of time trying to avoid their mistakes. I think its worth the time and effort. At the very least, my message will be clear; I hope.

Today a number of professions have instructor trainers directly responsible for filling employer vacancies. For example, in the Airline industry, instructors are directly responsible for initial and reoccurring training of pilots.  Eventually, the instructors resume their normal duties and will fly with pilots that they were once responsible for training.  Now the instructor must ask the question, how well did I train this person? It is at this point that a full implication of ones own teaching skills become glaringly apparent; at thirty-two thousand feet.  The same can be said for peace officers, firefighters, and military personnel. Many instructors in the these professions eventually wind up working side-by-side with the students they were once responsible for training and certifying. For these instructors accountability comes full circle.

Theo’s numerous displays of altruism earn him the badge of honor. The opening scenes depict him as a man medicated to his surroundings which led me to believe that he was pretty self absorbed or immune to what was going around him.  This middle aged activist who reluctantly becomes involved in a war of an underground revolt and seeks the help from Jasper Palmer, an aging hippie, to help the first pregnant woman in eighteen years, reach the safe haven of the Human Project. In the end, Theo rises to become a ray of hope for the future of humanity. This realization, a need for hope beyond ourselves, is an example of the altruistic man that Menius claims to exist.

From a humanistic perspective one might argue that genital mutilation is an act violence against women and a form of socialized oppression.  The women are subjected to a ritual that in many cases are performed under less than sanitary conditions.  The physical aspect of this ritual in itself is a form of torture because of the cutting and stitching that takes place in the genital region.  Any sane and logical individual can certainly argue that the right to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment should be afforded to all persons.  Muslim cultures justify such practice in the words of the Prophet Mohammed but how can one reasonably justify the preservation of a cultural practice that harms a women’s body and has no known health benefits.  Ultimately, female genital mutilation violates established human rights principles as well as norms and standards that are afforded to every individual worldwide.

I’m alway curious as to how people come up with their own unique screen names.  So, I’ll share mine and it will also reveal a significant piece to my past.  Sandmonster04 was a screen name that I created to communicate with the family while I was away from home.  Sandmonster symbolized me in the Iraqi desert and 04 was the year of my first deployment to the “Sweat Box.”

Hi, I’m John and I just retired from the US Marine Corp after twenty-one years of serving!