"THE dictionary definition of rhetoric is the theory and practice of eloquent speech, otherwise known as the art of using language so as to persuade others round to your point of view. In Jack McConnell’s vocabulary, however, it is an insult. He uses it to dismiss opposition arguments, to suggest that any criticism directed against his policy is windy and self-serving. Mainly, he uses
it to undermine the SNP.
Take yesterday. A decent argument by Nicola Sturgeon — that the First Minister had promised action on curbing the use of airguns but had not so far done anything about it — was dismissed by Mr McConnell as “rhetoric”, and not just “rhetoric” but “shameful rhetoric”.
I did not quite follow his logic. By this definition, rhetoric simply means any argument with which you disagree."
This is a bit unfair to our esteemed First Minister. We must remember that he was a maths teacher and probably did not have the opportunity to benefit from a classical education. Rhetoric and logic are closed books. When he uses words, he means what he wants them to mean and, if others want to scoff, too bad.
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