Protect and ... What Was the Other Thing?

Quote:   "They are a part of American life, but they are beyond the reach and protection of American law.”  President Bush.

Figure of Speech:  parallelism, the figure of similar structure.

President Bush is trying to placate the right and solve a real problem — illegal immigration — at the same time.  His primetime speech to the nation reveals a mastery of parallelism, a technique that balances the rhythm or meaning of clauses.   In this case, he lays mercy beside get-tough:  American life beside American law.

There’s a further balancing act here:  the "reach and protection" of that law.  The phrase implies that illegals escape from the law while suffering from its absence.  An apotheosis of compassionate conservativism.

Parallelism is a general term that comprises more specific figures; you’ll find them here.  It gladdens our rhetorical heart to see Bush using them; they require a balanced mind.  We weren’t sure the president had one.

Snappy Answer:  "More protection and less reach, please."