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Metaphors of American nationhood in Presidential
rhetoric, in contrast, assume a monumental character to the political state,
but one in which the metaphor must be modified from a concrete landmark to a visual one.
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Terrorist attacks
can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch
the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot
dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for
freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from
shining.
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The "nation" is also personified in this rhetoric. A "nation" has "grief"
and "sorrow" to express in the speech in the National Cathedral. It
can also be "stirred to anger." In the speech before Congress, Bush
presents an extended discussion of "national character."
The role of "people" in presidential rhetoric is somewhat different from
that of nation. In the president's impromptu remarks, references to
the "American people" abound, as in the case of his remarks on the South
Lawn in which the phrase appears eleven times. Although he argues that
"a great people have been moved to defend a great nation," the terms are
clearly not interchangeable. Addressees are "people" such as "the American people" and "the people of Afghanistan."
In the flyers dropped on Afghanistan, messages addressed to the "people"
of Afghanistan and messages addressed to the "nation" have fundamentally
different symbolic values, in that in the beginning of the war nation-identity
was assumed to be nonexistent. And yet the construction of an Afghan
national identity is not separable from our own.
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