Victory, Tragedy, Defeat - In APA format!

This is a post for all you...I thought you might be able to take something away from this lesson...if heeded closely. It doesn't come from some wise sage philosopher...just plain ol' me, but words of wisdom nonetheless. It can be applied to so many facets of our lives. Which popular contemporary stories would fall under the category of victory, defeat, comedy, or tragedy? Is there any inherent value to these accounts? Under the category of victory I would place my mentor, Hazel McCallion, the mayor of Mississauga in Ontario, Canada. "Hurricane Hazel" has maintained her 11 consecutive terms with 92% of the vote. I don't think any politician old or new can beat that. (Anthony, 2009) Under the category of defeat, I would probably think of first the one incident that keeps proverbially following me around, is Howard Dean. It has become known amongst my friends and I, as my "Howard Dean Effect." He was a presidential front runner for the 2004 elections, and because of one seemingly minor equipment malfunction, Howard Dean's political integrity went down the drain. It has been labeled across the nation as the, "I have a scream speech." Having aired it 633 times in three days didn't help his case much either. Through the excessive media coverage it proved a theory that is devastating to any candidate, that he didn't have the temperament to run our country. (Hogan, n.d.) But here's where the effect comes in, he failed to take into account that he was not just rallying his supporters, but talking to the world through the media. And according to Dean, the equipment malfunctions didn't help his case either. He claimed that the volume on the crowd cheering was turned down too low, and his microphone was turned up too high. But in the end, all viewers seen or heard was a screaming Dean. (Hogan, n.d.) For a tragic turn of events in contemporary stories, I think that when in 2003 Bush declared a "Mission Accomplished" on the war on Iraq, and a "victory" against terrorism, was quite devastating to families and friends of service members who are still being sent to this day, seven years later. Especially in hindsight. Bush always had a knack for seemingly not thinking before he spoke. It was never more evident than in this speech he gave at a U.S. camp in the Middle East. (Keen, 2003) For the idea of comedy in contemporary stories, I think that humor can be found in a lot of things. It's all about your perspective, and approach to the subject. Perhaps not all, but most things have some kind of humor in them somewhere. It's all about how you accept to digest the situation.

All of these stories have inherent value to them. Especially Howard Dean's story, with the idea that you never know how you're perceived by someone else, and therefore your actions can be taken seriously out of context. For our former president G.W. Bush, I think we all learned, even some children that were attentive to the two terms he served, I know my daughter learned this - to think before you speak. To make sure that the words coming out of your mouth are what you truly want people to hear, and can be validated with some truth. With the story of the great mayor of Mississauga, it shows we can achieve anything we want to, at any age. The only thing holding us back, is ourselves.

Anthony, George. (Producer). (2009). Rick Mercer Report. [Television series]. Toronto, Canada: Island Edge.
Hogan, Gail. (n.d.). Howard Dean's screaming T.V. blunder. CompleteCampaigns.com. Retrieved from http://www.completecampaigns.com/article.asp?articleid=18/article.asp?articleid=18
Keen, Judy. (2003, June 6). Bush to troops: Mission accomplished. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-06-05-bush-qatar_x.htm/iraq/2003-06-05-bush-qatar_x.htm