Analysis Of Senator Robert Byrd's Speech Arrogance Of Power

The Speech “Arrogance of Power: Today, I Weep for my Country...” by Senator Robert Byrd is more persuasive. He tries to persuade members of the Senate that the United States was arriving into a imprudent and unnecessary war. His thesis states “Around the globe, our friends mistrust us, our word is disputed, our intentions are questioned.” Byrd pleas to both the Senate and the American people in order to positively dispute his argument; this becomes obvious in his use of the cooperative expression in paragraph two. The main argument used is that Byrd impulses the people, the politicians, and citizens of the United States leave the conceited purposes of the War on Terror and concentrate on peaceful diplomacy. In paragraph 11, he writes, "Why

can this president not seem to see that America's true power lies not in its will to intimidate, but in its ability to inspire?" (Byrd, 2). The main points of this speech includes: Byrd defines the beauty and morals of the United States. He describes the ways in which the people are misplacing their intelligence of reason and beliefs. “Instead of reasoning with those with whom we disagree, we demand obedience or threaten recrimination. Instead of isolating Saddam Hussein, we seem to have isolated ourselves.”(Byrd, 1). He describes the penalties of putting a face to the attacks on the Twin Towers. He questions what the country has become. “What is happening to this country? When did we become a nation which ignores and berates our friends?” (Byrd, 2).