ra#5

JFK's speech in which he designated himself a jelly doughnut has many examples of his ethos (not all of them positive). First of all President Kennedy was in fact the President of the United States, at that point in time a respected posistion often regarded as leader of the free world, and thus already had a significant ethos. The citizens of west Berlin were surrounded by communist Germany and appreciated their freedom, and thus would listen to the "leader of the free world". Not only was Kennedy's position respected Kennedy also established himself as a "learned" man by using the latin ,"civis Roman sum" (I am a citizen of rome) this gave him the appearance of being smart. Then Kennedy made a huge mistake, "Ich bin ein Berliner" or in english, "I am a jelly doughnut", who respects a person who calls themself a jelly doughnut. Although Kennedy was trying to establish himself as a metaphorical resident of Berlin what he really did was degrade his ethos, and thus his argument. I disagree with Joel's assertion that Kennedy's use of German increased his ethos, on the contrary Kennedy's failure to use proper german grammar undoubtedly made him appear negligent and superficial to those who spoke the german language, he could not even take the time to learn to say one simple german sentence. Of course President Kennedy was still the president of the U.S. and his ethos as president undoubtedly outweighed his failed attempt at german.