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.