Quote: "I think the Constitution is a living thing in the sense that…it sets up a framework of government and a protection of fundamental rights that we have lived under very successfully for 200 years." Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito.
Figure of Speech: antistasis (an TIS ta sis), the repeat that changes meaning.
A Senator asked Alito what he thought of the "living Constitution"— the concept that the Supreme Court's interpretations must adapt to societal change. Liberals love it, conservatives hate it.
His answer: "The Constitution is living because we live under it." (Thanks to Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick for the translation). An antistasis (Greek for "anti-position") repeats a word while changing its meaning. Alito uses it to express precisely what he means to say:
Nothing.
Snappy Answer: "It was living, but I think you just talked it to death."