Howie Carr's Propagand How Not To Be Bamboozled

The very tiresome and grueling yet somehow satisfying manic-speed of life today has undeniable repercussions. There is the satisfaction of being busy to the point where doing nothing seems to be a punishment instead of a reward. Then, there is the frustration of not being busy enough, constantly looking for more things to do, inevitably leading to “Emotional Distress” (ED) (Carr 1). People live in a constant battle between these two, not knowing how fine the line actually is. Howie Carr’s piece “Take $2000 and Call Me in the Morning” argues the misuse of ED as a gateway to money. At first glance, his work could be considered as a credible and humorous piece. However, applying Donna Woolfolk Cross’s strategies in “Propaganda: How Not To Be Bamboozled”

shows that Carr’s composition can be regarded as unreliable because of the three most apparent and conniving stratagems he uses: “Guilt or Glory By Association,” “Card Stacking,” and “Begging the Question.” Carr first uses “Guilt or Glory By Association” when he refers to “legal tender” (1) with a bad connotation. He then uses “Card Stacking” by simply extracting the ludicrous lawsuits that support his argument while disregarding the other lawsuits that were filed for ED. Finally, he uses “Begging the Question” when he simply stated the lawsuits without bothering to elaborate the stories behind his biased descriptions.