Rhetoric: Black Hat or White Hat?

I know we've already been discussing the fact that while "rhetoric" in itself should be a neutral term, people (at least outside of academics who study and teach rhetoric for a living!) tend to use it in a negative sense. Out of curiosity, I searched a few news sites for recent articles in which the word "rhetoric" was used; here's just a sample (the first four are from the New York Times; the second is from the UCLA student newspaper):

"Iranian Rhetoric Aside, It May Be Time to Talk"

“The common complaint about the government is there is a lot of lofty rhetoric, but the achievement always falls short,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said.

"But some critics say Mr. Huckabee’s crusade has more rhetoric than substance."

"...Council meetings where rhetoric has traditionally predominated over substance."

"As a person who does not share her views, I want to sound back to her that the use of some of the more rhetorical hot buttons, like 'religious right,' is a huge turn-off."

...I glanced through a hundred or so hits from my "rhetoric" search, and about the only non-negative use I saw came in an obituary of a professor who had taught courses in rhetoric. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I thought that perhaps some reporters and commentators out there would have a sense of the positive uses of the word, too.

So...my challenge to you: Report back to this blog with any quotation from any media (from news on TV to a website to a book you're reading in another class) or from daily life in which someone uses "rhetoric" not as a pejorative but as a positive concept. Ready?