Quemell Brave
Professor Campbell
CRTW 201
May 1, 2017
Self-Justification: Attack on Syria!
In the opening pages of their book Mistakes Were Made authors Tavris and Aronson note that politicians conspicuously engage in the art of self-justification (3). Politicians rarely admit mistakes they have made in the past and instead opt to find ways to justify their actions. This often presents cases of dissonance whereby politicians seem to be out of touch with reality. One such case is the recent US attack on Syria. The campaign rhetoric of Mr. Trump during the last election period and even before that period presented a philosophy of America first where the US is expected to keep off affairs that do not directly benefit it. In fact, Mr. Trump vehemently and repeatedly aired views against any attack on Syria by then President Obama. The seemingly change in view by President Trump needs an analysis as it presents a dissonant situation that the President needs to self-justify to get over. The attack on Syria is an act that President Trump previously opposed in very strong terms and thus for him to now blame crossing of red lines is just a mere self-justification for clearly a dissonant act.
President Trump won the US election on the platform of making America great again. During the campaign period and …show more content…
How is President Trump reducing this dissonance? According to Tavris and Aronson, one way this can be done is by “minimizing the extent of the problem and the damage it caused” (123). In the context of the Trump administration, this is being done by trying to paint a different picture of the same issue: “When you kill innocent children, innocent babies, babies, little babies, with a chemical gas that is so lethal, people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line” (Beauchamp
Professor Campbell
CRTW 201
May 1, 2017
Self-Justification: Attack on Syria!
In the opening pages of their book Mistakes Were Made authors Tavris and Aronson note that politicians conspicuously engage in the art of self-justification (3). Politicians rarely admit mistakes they have made in the past and instead opt to find ways to justify their actions. This often presents cases of dissonance whereby politicians seem to be out of touch with reality. One such case is the recent US attack on Syria. The campaign rhetoric of Mr. Trump during the last election period and even before that period presented a philosophy of America first where the US is expected to keep off affairs that do not directly benefit it. In fact, Mr. Trump vehemently and repeatedly aired views against any attack on Syria by then President Obama. The seemingly change in view by President Trump needs an analysis as it presents a dissonant situation that the President needs to self-justify to get over. The attack on Syria is an act that President Trump previously opposed in very strong terms and thus for him to now blame crossing of red lines is just a mere self-justification for clearly a dissonant act.
President Trump won the US election on the platform of making America great again. During the campaign period and …show more content…
How is President Trump reducing this dissonance? According to Tavris and Aronson, one way this can be done is by “minimizing the extent of the problem and the damage it caused” (123). In the context of the Trump administration, this is being done by trying to paint a different picture of the same issue: “When you kill innocent children, innocent babies, babies, little babies, with a chemical gas that is so lethal, people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line” (Beauchamp