Arabesque:
- Fine Arts . a sinuous, spiraling, undulating, or serpentine line or linear motif.
- a pose in ballet in which the dancer stands on one leg with one arm extended in front and the other leg and arm extended behind.
- a short, fanciful musical piece, typically for piano. [Dictionary.com]
Noted in “Whitaker is Unfit to be Attorney General, Acting or Otherwise,” Bruce Fein, The American Conservative:
Mr. Whitaker decries Marbury as one of the Court’s many “bad rulings.” At the same time, the Acting Attorney General berates the Court for neglecting to employ its power of judicial review (which he believes it should not enjoy) to nullify New Deal legislation expanding the power of the federal government, including Obamacare. His intellectual arabesque recalls F. Scott Fitzgerald’s memorable quote from The Crack-Up: “The test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”
Perhaps Mr. Fein is a trifle fanciful in his metaphors.
