One of the most publicized and commonly embraced political conspiracies has been the "birther movement." The conspiracy, which gained traction amid the 2008 Presidential election, alleged that Barack Obama was ineligible for the Presidency on grounds he was not born in the United States. Though the movement was continuously debunked by a myriad of people, birthers remarkably managed to keep the conspiracy alive and relevant, due in large part to Donald Trump. Analysis of birther rhetoric, and specifically Donald Trump's use of it to continually undermine Barack Obama, provides a particularly robust understanding of the rhetorical forms that facilitate the resiliency of conspiracy. In this essay, we combine Richard Hofstadter's concept of the paranoid style with generic approaches to conspiracy to unpack the ways birther rhetoric functions-both formally and stylistically-to advance a rhetoric of white supremacy. Furthermore, we analyze Donald Trump's role as conspiracy advocate and the specific rhetorical strategies he employs to use the birther controversy for his political advantage.

Hurricane Katrina was one of the deadliest natural disasters in the history of the United States. Employing the taxonomy of Medhurst and DeSousa (1981), this essay examines the cartoons that attacked President Bush and were generated in the month following Hurricane Katrina. These cartoons made two basic claims: (1) that Bush's personal and policy decisions were detrimental to the relief efforts and the victims and (2) that he was lacking the intelligence and integrity necessary for the successful handling of the situation. An examination of these political cartoons demonstrates cartoons functioned to construct a national kategoria, or speech of accusation. The graphic strategies of size, placement, and relation of text are particularly suited to construct immediate indictments on policy choices and attacks on personal character. Finally, some conclusions as to the potency, both argumentatively and visually, of the political cartoon form are offered.

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This paper describes an interdisciplinary activity that crosses over between Mathematics and Rhetoric. The professors who created this activity both sought activelearning opportunities for their students, a sense of realism-even urgency-in what can otherwise be perceived as abstract material, and a meaningful liberal arts experience. Evidence of the power of this experience is seen in the media coverage, both from our college and from the Portland Press Herald newspaper. Both courses described in this paper are at the elective level, taken by majors or minors in their respective disciplines. Students have moderate to extensive backgrounds in their subject areas. However, adapted versions of our activity could involve students at more introductory levels.