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    Monday
    Jun052006

    The Freedom to Ban Gays

    bushwedding.jpgQuote:  “In our free society, people have the right to choose how they live their lives.  And in a free society, decisions about such a fundamental social institution as marriage should be made by the people, not by the courts.”   President Bush.

    Figure of Speechenthymeme, the argument packet.

    Seeking a little (platonic) love from the Christianists, the president supports a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.  He presses his case with an enthymeme (“something in the mind”), which takes something the audience believes and uses it to support a conclusion.

    Bush favors a particularly cynical kind of enthymeme, in which he takes a commonplace that argues against his point and pretends that it supports him.  Commonplace:  People have the right to choose how they live their lives.  Conclusion:  We should ban gay marriage.  Bush knows the amendment will almost certainly die in Congress.  But in this presidency, reality takes a back seat to rhetoric.

    That makes Figaro hot.

    Snappy Answer:  “With freedom like that, who needs repression?”

    Learn more about the enthymeme here and here.

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