Figures of Speech Served Fresh

Paris Hilton might not be as big a celebrity as Barack Obama, but she obviously has a better energy plan.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.

argumentum ad fortiori, the argument from strength. From the Latin, meaning “argument from strength.”

  New Paris Hilton video on Funny or Die! Responding to a McCain ad that likens Obama to celebrities like the airhead heiress, Paris appears in a leopard-spotted swimsuit. “I want America to know that I’m, like, totally ready to lead,” she says, announcing her candidacy to become president a mere eight years before the U.S. Constitution allows.

She does a nice mashup of her rivals’ energy policies: “We can do limited offshore drilling with strict environmental oversight while creating tax incentives to get Detroit making hybrid and electric cars,” she says.

The McCain campaign volleys back with a very nice argumentum ad fortiori. If something more-so is true, then it’s likely that something less-so will be true as well. Or vice versa. If Paris’s energy policy trumps Barack’s, then we all had better move to Jedda.

Snappy Answer: Plus, she’d be the only president to make energy policy seem dirty.