“A Waiting for Godot Experience”--Use of Visual, Evocative Expression to Emphasize One’s Point

(Rewritten August 15, 2022) 

Here is a recent example of a highly effective communicator using a vivid, evocative expression while emphasizing something and thus making his assertion indelible—an example which, I hope, will inspire the rest of us into similarly imaginative analogies, especially when we are trying to break through the clutter. 

• (This one is from my archives) First, the background: In mid-January last year, an outgoing Trump administration official unnecessarily charged three Indonesian men who are Gitmo (Guantanamo) detainees.  It was done as something of “a parting shot,” just to make it harder for the incoming Biden administration to implement its stated goal of closing Gitmo at the earliest.  In response, a frustrated and indignant human rights lawyer Michele Paradis had this to say during an appearance on PBS NewsHour later that week: “...These men have been in Guantanamo since 2003...the five 9/11 conspirators have been facing trial since 2008 (but) there’s still no trial date set...(and there may never be one) because of the “dysfunctionality” of the Gitmo military commissions/ tribunals and (the revolving door) of judges.”  Paradis then added: “One thing after another has made these into a ‘Waiting for Godot’ experience.  They are the trials that everyone’s waiting for but never come.”  

© Copyright 2022  V.J. Singal