Up, Simba

Perhaps it was the Jay Heinrichs sarcastic feeling, or even all the ethos that indulges me in Up, Simba. First, in the foreword, Wallace establishes himself as "NOT A POLITICAL JOURNALIST," which is followed by many other claims, but that he is solely a Rolling Stones magazine writer. This is important to me because by stating this, I was then inclined to believe that he is an average American writing on what he sees and experiences on the campaign trail.

The use of sarcasm brings a notion of informality, but the way that he uses this sarcasm is in an educated, structured way establishes credibility and ethos.. Most people use sarcasm as a way to express a feeling or thought, but use it in a way that doesn't truly serve much purpose. Wallace, on the other hand, gives the sarcasm in a way that pulls me into the article much deeper. For example, he says,"Do you give a shit whether McCain can or ought to win. Since you're reading Rolling Stone, the chances are good that you are an American between say 18 and 35" By presenting the cold, hard truth of most young Americans, as well as establishing ethos to his name by presenting a statistic, he is able to get his point across without having to beat around the bush. Another prime example is when Wallace states "The two press buses are known as Bullshit 1 and Bullshit 2, names conceived as usual by the extremely col and laid-back NBC News cameraman Jim C." By naming the campaign buses as "Bullshit 1" and "Bullshit 2" that adds humor to a rather dry subject of politics.

In its entirety, this work reminds me of Jay Heinrichs, due to Wallace's frequent notion that he is speaking directly to the reader, rather than solely stating facts without any personalization. Because of the personalized feeling, this leads me to give Wallace credibility for his writing.