Guided Assignment 2

Background: Analyze Stephen Colbert's Truthiness video.

In a clip from a 2005 Colbert Report episode, Stephen Colbert discusses truthiness. The main rhetorical strategy he utilizes is sarcasm. He makes an arguable claim that states logic and thought are unreliable ways to make decisions and that it is best to trust your gut feeling when seeking the truth. The evidence he uses is a clip of an address made by President George W. Bush on the nomination of Harriet Miers to the White House Council. In the clip, the President claims that he "knows [Harriet's] heart." At this, Colbert continues to satirize the decision by likening it to the war in Iraq. Thinking about the war makes it seem bad but wouldn't it feel great if we took down Saddam Hussein?
Throughout the segment, Colbert continues to reiterate his personal preference of going with your gut over your logical reasoning or whatever a reference book might tell you.
Although the overall tone of the segment is humorous sarcasm, Stephen Colbert is actually making a statement on the ineffective decision making of certain leaders like President Bush because they did not take enough time to consider the more logical and reasonable responses to risky situations.