 The words inspiration, exalt, and revere function with the phrases "patriotic devotion" and "selfishness of nationality" to characterize a refusal of aid as a positive, patriotic act.Finally, the repeated phrase "America first" dichotomizes the issue into a choice between placing America or Europe first, with no middle ground.The conclusion of this cluster criticism would therefore be that Harding advances his argument by constructing European aid as an irresponsible and un-American policy and a rejection of aid as a responsible, pro-American policy as well as framing the issue as an irreconcilable choice between the interests of America and Europe.