Finding the "Truth"

Rhetoric, as we have been learning, is a very powerful and at times dangerous tool. Being able to tell the difference between the types of rhetoric we’ve seen and simply being able to realize what is rhetoric is important, especially the older we get. Take, for example, the ongoing New Orleans mayoral race. Speeches, platforms, websites and commercials are all real-life examples of rhetoric. This rhetoric affects us on a very real and important level. And the more we know the better equipped we are to make decisions.

So far, we have been introduced to three types of rhetoric: the “fact-based,” “I’m only interested in your best interest” approach; the more emotional “I know what is best so trust me” approach; and the “this simply is the truth” approach. What I want to know is if there are any examples now of the third approach. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I have a dream speech” is an example of the third approach, but it seems to me that the age of truth, one might say, has past. Cynicism, deception, doubt, greed and a history of dishonest and insincere rhetoric have turned us away from the truth. One candidate in the mayoral debate, James Perry, claims to embrace the truth. This is one of his more popular, and controversial, campaign commercials:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8S24JAUsVE

Do you think that James Perry might be using the third form of rhetoric? Or do you think his claims are simply another, though clever, form of deception? If the latter, can you think of any modern examples of rhetoric that doesn’t deceive or have some ulterior motive? In this day and age, can any politician actually have the good of his constituents at heart? How can we, as educated voters, cut through the technique and find the truth? Or can we at all?