Rhetorical Leadership

Properly understood, the classical image of the tyrant is not a form of government, but rather a disease of the mind. In this episode, Dr. Isaksen revisits a text he wrote in April 2016 describing the classical symptoms of a tyrant and how Trump already then displayed every one of them. It is a modern version of the classical rhetorical exercise "the topos of the tyrant." For more details about the rhetorical exercise, listen to the podcast episode on the topos of the tyrant https://rhetorical-leadership.transistor.fm/4  
The original text performed in this podcast is available at http://intelligenceofpersuasion.blogspot.com/2016/04/why-trump-is-tyrant.html

00:00 Trump at CPAC 2023
00:57 Revisiting 2016 predictions
01:27 How freedom died in antiquity
02:57 Those who tried to save it
04:32 The Trumpian peril
05:42 Trump is a classical tyrant
07:16 What Trump could/would do as president
10:22 The vices of the tyrant
11:06 Suspicion
13:02 Arrogance
15:06 Cruelty and savagery
17:00 Immorality and avarice
19:34 Resist tyranny
19:51 Our democratic complacency
21:17 The weakness of our institutions