Iran a War, I’m Running a War…

Quote:  “Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”  President Bush

Figure of Speech: antistrophe (an-TIS-tro-phe), the last-word repeater. From the Greek, meaning “turning around.”

All ten American spy agencies report that Teheran abandoned its weapons program four years ago. In response, President Bush toes a tricky rhetorical line in the form of an antistrophe, a figure that repeats the same words in successive phrases or clauses.

The antistrophe lets Bush do what he loves best: repeat a key word over and over, in order, as he puts it, “to kind of catapult the propaganda.” The figure also disguises a shift in Bush’s argument. Up till now, the White House had been rattling its sabers over Iran’s alleged development of weapons. Now the issue isn’t development but know-how.

By repeating the same word over and over and over, Bush seeks to make knowledge a dangerous thing.

Snappy Answer:  “There’s only one thing to do in this crisis: imagine some weapons.”

Comments

[Willfully Ignorant]

Bush's election was a joke, and the invasion of Iraq is a bad joke. But scapegoating Iran will not be this administration's last punchline.

[Kris S.]

As one of my favorite bartenders used to say (not sure where this fits in the rhetorical toolbox), "he's full of sh*t up to his eyebrows!"

[Figaro]

From a purely rhetorical standpoint, though, this is good stuff. And in Bush's defense, a year ago the same spy agencies said Iran was developing nukes. Which, frankly, isn't nearly as scary as Pakistan developing nukes.

Oh, wait. They already did that.

Fig.

[Norm]

Hey Fig, what about the anaphora: "Iran... Iran... Iran...", and is there a name for the was/is/will be device?

[Grandma Anne]

Bush proves the very old quote that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing!" VERY dangerous!

[Grandma Anne]

Bush proves the very old quote that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing!" VERY dangerous!

[terre]

Brilliant! Fig, I adore how you boil it down to the essential thing, not only what a figure of speech means but what it tells you about the subject. I mean this as a compliment: Reading your posts is like having the recipe for every dish they serve at the Bullshit Buffet and BBQ.

[Figaro]

Why, thank you, Terre. One tries to avoid Samuel Butler's charge that "all a rhetorician's rules teach but the naming of his tools."

Fig.

[Figaro]

Norm, because Bush's quote repeats words at both the beginning and the end of each clause, it's a SYMPLOCE as well as an antistrophe.

Fig.

[Michael E. Eidenmuller]

"Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon." Yes, an "antistrophe." Also, an "anaphora." And in combination, the quotation figures this: "Symploce" -- the occurence of both anaphora and antistrophe in the same phrase or clause.

M.E.

[Figaro]

You said it better than I, Michael. Thanks.

Fig.

[Rammy]

Perhaps my fav is Churchill's... I think them's fighting words:-)

"We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France,
we shall fight on the seas and oceans,
we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be,
we shall fight on the beaches,
we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,
we shall fight in the hills;
we shall never surrender, "