Don't Sharpen That Handle.

Quote:  “I accept this gavel in the spirit of partnership, not partisanship.” Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the House.

Figure of Speech:  antithesis (an-TIH-the-sis), the not-this-but-that figure.  From the Greek, meaning “opposite place.”

Congrats to Speaker Pelosi.  It’s even a bigger deal than it seems:  women still comprise just 18 percent of the house, but their proportion is growing rapidly in state legislatures.  Figaro predicts that within a generation, politics will be considered women’s work.  Which is fine with him.

In a predictably bipartisan inaugural (we almost said “maiden”) speech, Pelosi employed an antithesis, a figure of opposites that works best when the opposing parts have a similar sound (“partnership, not partisanship”).  She got a little carried away, figuratively, when she piled a second antithesis on top of that first one:  Democrats and Republicans can “disagree without being disagreeable,” she chanted.

Afterward, she couldn’t resist a little touchdown dance.  “The Democrats are back!” crowed the oh-so-humble Speaker.  Meanwhile, the rest of Washington was already sharpening knives.  President Bush got into a tiff with grouchy ol’ Harry Reid, the disagreeable new Senate majority leader, over whether the Dems’ legislation might be “political.”

Figaro is shocked by the very suggestion.

Snappy Answer:  “More work, less pork!”  (Wait.  That was supposed to rhyme.)

Comments

[JMack]

You get credit for an off-rhyme. :-)