Thread by @RobertPLewis

Changing American Paradigm (thread)
Chapter 6: corpus Analysis of Functional Argument Units Corpora
(Obama’s arguments in addresses and how they changed over time)

His speeches were broken down into 5 main elements for analysis:

Main goals stated by Obama based on analysis of his speeches

Key domains added
-mostly used to bolster the security needs to build a strong economy, the need for the economy to be “built to last,” the importance of affordability (healthcare), strengthening the middle class and increasing the ability for new entrants into the middle class

*this may take awhile. As soon as I tweeted I’d be starting this again, both Twit & PDF started acting up.

Hate to sound overly conspiratorial, but haven’t had any problems over the past week since the last thread.

Weird.

More added domains based on content of speeches:
-responsibility to get the troops better health insurance
*as a vet myself w/ lots of friends who served under Obama as CinC, I should add that none of us believe he gave a single $h1t about the troops
...

Gov’t: interesting that he often mentions the government needing to be fiscally responsible, and to stay within its means.
This coming from a guy who vastly expanded the size, scope, overreach, waste and employees of an already bloated US government

More of the same:

-“...country needs to be a place where ppl who work hard can get ahead.”

-but don’t get too far ahead, or the Dem party will vilify you. Unless, of course you’re friends/family with Dem politicians or a major donor. Then you can do what you want.

Concordance analysis of his goals (did he really accomplish what he stated? At all?”
-grad school more important than trade school (ask all the unemployed gender studies PhDs laid off from Buzzfeed)
-make sure American voices heard by gov’t (unless you can afford a lobbyist -

You had no voice or say in Obama’s admin
-supporting businesses (most anti-biz climate we’ve seen in a long time - again, unless you were a donor or friend of his)
-raising amt of clean energy (Solyndra, anyone?)
-less dependence on foreign oil (thank you @realDonaldTrump )

Speech analysis shows that Obama was sharply focused on economic recovery and job creation.
Since Nancy Pelosi is so focused on putting an asterisk next to @realDonaldTrump ‘s Presidency, we should include Obama’s:
-recovery so bad he said <3% GDP was “new normal”
...

-The only jobs he succeeded in creating were part time
-The gig economy, created under his admin, is currently under attack in CA by his own party
-little to no wage growth for anyone under mgt in his admin
-greatest disparity of wealth created under Obama’s tenure

-circumstances make up 75% of Obama’s corpus (speeches)
-he switched key new topic discussions in 2nd term, and again in last 2 years
-Obama’s language & representations were repeated often and consistently
*this is one of the main points of the study - he didn’t follow through

From very early on he used “crisis” language & scare tactics to get his policies through
-framed only health care options as ACA (Obamacare) or “current system that will bankrupt the gov’t”
-also interesting hindsight- when Biden was initially tapped as running mate, there was-

An interview he gave where he said that Obama “would be tested with a crisis very early in his Presidency.”

Was Joe “in on it,” or was the guy who can’t remember what state he’s in somehow prescient to a level nobody else was?

I know where I’d place my bet.

Semantic domain & concordance analysis:
-claimed another challenge was a tax system that favored the wealthy (but it was @realDonaldTrump who fixed it and put money back in American’s pockets)
-talked about the poor state of America’s schools
-gave plenty of stats on lost jobs

-Also interesting that he linked “special interest groups” to Congress and noted their challenges to “progress”
-if you haven’t read Secret Empires, you should. Obama’s buddies made their own special interest groups who left a trail of broken dreams in their wake

He placed a lot of blame for the financial crisis on Wall Street and criticized the taxpayer funded $20bn in Wall St bonuses. But we should note:
-he never prosecuted anyone on Wall St, perhaps bc
-Citibank appointed his first administration cabinet

2010 analysis:
-he claimed economy was growing again (slightly)
-special interests & lobbyists fighting reforms
-financing cut off for Al Qaeda (it wasn’t)
-Al Qaeda leaders being eliminated

2011:
-Obama tours the nation, speaking from clean energy businesses to tout 1.3mm jobs added (mostly part-time to gig economy)
-major push for clean energy investment
-kept talking about tax breaks for the middle class, which didn’t materialize
-talked about Libyan invasion

2012:
-continues to say economy is slowly recovering
-Benghazi happens, not much focus by him (except, of course, for his admin blaming it on a YouTube video in public but terrorism in private emails to each other)
-insists his class warfare isn’t really class warfare

2013:
-budget showdown, gov’t shutdown and sequester happens
-Obama of course blames on GOP & says they’re hurting disadvantaged & elderly
-begins to focus on immigration reform (he deported more than President Trump), gun control and climate change

2014:
-talks about his “battle with Republicans in Congress”
-Syrian intervention begins
-threatens to work w/ states to raise wages
-begins talking about unsustainable student debt, yet calls college the only pathway to success & never calls out colleges for rapidly incr costs

2014 Semantic domain & concordance:
-begins talking about ISIL (his PC name for ISIS)

2015:
A lot of deals this year
-Iran deal
-TPP sold as helping the middle class (it really would have shipped more jobs to China, as NAFTA sent to Mexico)
-touts Obamacare as success
-says Freedom Act would end gov’t surveillance on civilians (ask @realDonaldTrump about that)

2016:
-spends most of 2016 taking a victory lap
-frames Congressional Republicans as impeding progress
-stokes the class warfare fire again, claiming to stand with the middle class against the wealthy (ask him how middle class he is in his new Martha’s Vineyard beachfront home)

Ok PDF just crashed again & I have to get on, gettin’ on.

I’ll pick back up tomorrow with section 6.4 where I left off.

Not as exciting today, but necessary dove into the weeds for what is coming in this paper