Is That a Weapon She's Holding?

Quote:  "Do you remember 100 years ago when we were saying, ‘Give us your tired, give us your poor?’ How come that doesn’t still stand?"  David Wells, speaking to the L.A. Times.

Figure of Speech:  anamnesis (an-am-NEE-sis), the reminder figure.

Two thirds of Americans support a guest worker program along with stricter border enforcement.  The House of Representatives wants to send all illegal immigrants to Abu Ghraib — well, to declare them felons anyway.  And the Senate wants… it doesn’t know what it wants, but it wants it badly.

In response, David Wells, a Republican golf course groundskeeper and mere voter in Plant City, Florida, executes a rhetorical Statue of Liberty play, the anamnesis ("remind"). The figure quotes an authority from memory.  It’s excellent way to bring values into an argument and make people feel vaguely guilty.

Yes, he misquotes Emma Lazarus’s poem “Colossus,” whose 14 lines appear on the statue. But he does it with a nice anaphora, so we’ll excuse him just this once.

Snappy Answer:  "Congress wants a minor edit.  Just change ‘us’ to ‘up on.’"

Comments

[ashling]

and all beco's we fired a space probe at the moon ... well i neva ;)

[Tom Vamvanij]

100 years ago, immigrants were not subsidized by the welfare state. How come that doesn't still stand?

Don't start about eligibility for benefits. Illegal immigrants get sick, give births, and send their 3.7 kids to school. Do you think they pay for all that with their minimum wages?

--- "Two thirds of Americans support a guest worker program along with stricter border enforcement."

What's Greek for bundling? 100% of Playboy buyers pay for the articles as well as the photos.

There is *already* a guest worker program (see H-1B, H-2A, H-2B visas), what Americans want but aren't getting is border enforcement.

Unbundled answer in a Rasmussen poll: "Seventy-nine percent (79%) of American adults favor a proposal requiring employers to fire workers who falsify identity documents."

--- "The House of Representatives wants to send all illegal immigrants to Abu Ghraib — well, to declare them felons anyway."

This sentence gives "strawman" a bad name. Transparent sleaziness is not a proper rhetorical technique. Try ethos.

[Figaro]

I'd disagree about the strawman part; that was transparent, self-contradicted exaggeration. One point of unsleazy fact: undocumented workers pay taxes.
Fig.