I'll Finish it Eventually, God Willing

Rewriting sucks! Why can't professors recognize my perfection the first time around?

So, I have several chapters to write of my thesis before moving onto new chapters. And, within the rewriting phase, I have more reading to do as books/articles keep coming up that, in some way or another, relate to my topic. I suppose it's all about making it better, but I just want to be done with it.

An interesting book that was recommended to me by my thesis committee chair is God Willing?: Political Fundamentalism in the White House, The "War on Terror," and the Echoing Press by David Domke. I haven't read a lot of it yet, but it does have some interesting ideas, about how the Bush administration was able to use 9/11 rhetoric to gain unflinching support and how the mainstream press just echoed his ideas.

"The administration's political fundamentalism did much more than offer familarity, comfort, and a moral stance; it also closed off a substantive societal - and international - conversation through a set of politically calculated, religiously grounded communication strategies. Instead of opening up the discourse and allowing a democratic dialogue to take place, Bush's rhetoric hijacked the discussion about the significance and implications of September 11, thereby denying to U.S. citizens important opportunities for national self-examination and a wide public hearing of diverse viewpoints - and also shutting out the world, much of which was extending unprecendented sympathy for U.S. citizens and the nation."
- D. Domke