Figures of Speech Served Fresh

Quote:   “Why do you make time for donors and not for me?”  Sign held by Cindy Sheehan, whose son died in Iraq, while the president’s motorcade drove to a Republican fundraiser in Crawford, Texas

Figure of Speech:   alloiosis (al oy OH sis), the this-isn’t-that figure

Sheehan’s alloiosis (Greek for “difference”) gives the president two rotten choices:  Meet with her and legitimize her anti-war protest, or admit defeat and cancel the fundraiser.  Her figure is a form of antithesis, weighing opposites.  Bush himself favors this kind of black-or-white argument, because it makes subtler forms of reasoning look immoral.

Snappy Answer:  None.  Sorry, Mr. President, for once you can’t win with an antithesis.  Express  your sympathies and hope the woman leaves.  You could fly back to Washington.  But our soldiers depend on a Commander in Chief who can vacation without flinching.