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He Believes in Believable Beliefs

alitoblank.jpgQuote:  "I think the Constitution is a living thing in the sense that…it sets up a framework of government and a protection of fundamental rights that we have lived under very successfully for 200 years." Supreme Court Nominee Samuel Alito.

Figure of Speech:  antistasis (an TIS ta sis), the repeat that changes meaning.

A Senator asked Alito what he thought of the "living Constitution"— the concept that the Supreme Court's interpretations must adapt to societal change.  Liberals love it, conservatives hate it.

His answer:  "The Constitution is living because we live under it." (Thanks to Slate’s  Dahlia Lithwick for the translation).  An antistasis (Greek for "anti-position") repeats a word while changing its meaning.  Alito uses it to express precisely what he means to say:

Nothing.

Snappy Answer:  "It was living, but I think you just talked it to death."

Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 at 11:04AM by Registered CommenterFigaro | Comments1 Comment

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Reader Comments (1)

Alito offered some pretty circuitous answers, but then, his confirmation depended on saying things ... just ... so. What I thought more interesting, as The Jaded Listener pointed out yesterday, was that Schumer got called out for his slippery use of the word "mainstream" by the twangy, seemingly inarticulate Lindsey Graham. http://jadedlistener.wordpress.com/2006/01/10/words-that-mean-anything/
January 13, 2006 | Unregistered CommenterHenry Balfour

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