Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Rhetorical Signing Statement
For those who wish to see a rare event for President Bush, I have just the thing for you. You are aware of the signing statement and its use by the Bush administration. The President signs a bill and then either qualifies or challenges various provisions of it. All well and good. But what you have not seen much of, in the way of the Bush administration's use of the signing statement, are those signing statements designed for rhetorical purposes.
I have classified the signing statement into two categories: rhetorical and constitutional. The constitutional category covers all signing statements where the president "interprets" or "challenges" one or many provisions of the bill. The president asserts this right by pointing to some part of the Constitution that empowers him. The rhetorical signing statement, on the other hand, makes no constitutional assertions, but is designed to appeal to either a mass or targeted audience. The president may single out individuals for praise or scorn, or the president may highlight his role in bringing all sides together for an important legislation.
Yesterday, the President signed HR 1593, the "Second Chance Act of 2007" which is aimed at giving "prisoners across America a second chance for a better life." Who could be against that?
This signing statement was accompanied with a formal signing ceremony and directed at a mass audience. How do I know this? First, where the ceremony was held. It was held in Room 350 of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is a large room designed to accommodate a lot of people, as indicated by this picture:
These formal signing ceremonies that are geared towards mass consumption also contain two other important ingredients: "real" people who benefit from the president's efforts and a smiling group of congresspersons standing behind the president as he signs the bill into law, demonstrating the legislative process by pictures
Real People:
And the smiling congresspersons:
The Bush administration, unlike their predecessors, have not had much use for the rhetorical signing statement which is odd given how it perfected the "staged" event. Nonetheless, the president may be attempting to change the perception that it is doing nothing while the economy falls down around it. Thus this opportunity was designed to make the president look both "presidential" and a "leader."
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I have classified the signing statement into two categories: rhetorical and constitutional. The constitutional category covers all signing statements where the president "interprets" or "challenges" one or many provisions of the bill. The president asserts this right by pointing to some part of the Constitution that empowers him. The rhetorical signing statement, on the other hand, makes no constitutional assertions, but is designed to appeal to either a mass or targeted audience. The president may single out individuals for praise or scorn, or the president may highlight his role in bringing all sides together for an important legislation.
Yesterday, the President signed HR 1593, the "Second Chance Act of 2007" which is aimed at giving "prisoners across America a second chance for a better life." Who could be against that?
This signing statement was accompanied with a formal signing ceremony and directed at a mass audience. How do I know this? First, where the ceremony was held. It was held in Room 350 of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is a large room designed to accommodate a lot of people, as indicated by this picture:
These formal signing ceremonies that are geared towards mass consumption also contain two other important ingredients: "real" people who benefit from the president's efforts and a smiling group of congresspersons standing behind the president as he signs the bill into law, demonstrating the legislative process by pictures
Real People:
And the smiling congresspersons:
The Bush administration, unlike their predecessors, have not had much use for the rhetorical signing statement which is odd given how it perfected the "staged" event. Nonetheless, the president may be attempting to change the perception that it is doing nothing while the economy falls down around it. Thus this opportunity was designed to make the president look both "presidential" and a "leader."
