Posted on 11/28/2010 4:54:49 PM PST by EveningStar
You’re right, it may not be a metaphor.
A metaphor is “a figure of speech in which a term is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance”.
Metaphor may not adequately describe impeachment’s relationship to Nixon’s resignation. The connection is stronger than mere resemblance. Impeachment isn’t just a resemblance to what was coming next, it is in fact what was coming next. The looming inevitability of impeachment was the sole motivating factor for Nixon’s resignation, and it serves as shorthand for discussing how his Presidency came to an end.
Now if someone comes along with new information revealing that Nixon resigned for health reasons or something of that sort, then certainly impeachment has nothing to do with Nixon resigning. But until then literal mindedness only serves to obfuscate rather than illuminate, even if it might win a round of Trivial Pursuit.
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