No, not the movie. The rhetorical device, which, to refresh y’all’s memory, is the use of a part for the whole (or the whole for a part). I’m fascinated lately by how often a single action on the part of a relatively small player can give insight into an entire system or organization. For example, I know a woman who yanked her child — now in his thirties — from a private school after the pre-school teacher sent home a note reading, “Sam needs to work on staying inside the lines when he colors.” Fifteen years later, I elected not to consider the school for my kids after hearing that one story – and sure enough, it’s still a very rigid, “traditional” school that isn’t at all the kind of environment I wanted for my kids.
Anyway, I thought about synecdoche this morning when I learned that Jane Harman, one of the House Blue Dogs, has decided to change her mind and support the public option. Why the change of heart? (more…)