Word: symbolic
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...After all, it's not every day a gargantuan blue spruce is moved from the forests of northern New Mexico to the groomed lawns of Capitol Hill. This is the first year a living tree -- complete with a 40-ton root ball -- will serve as the nation's Christmas symbol. The 60-ft. giant will be garnished with strings of chili-pepper lights and 10,000 handmade ornaments from New Mexico, including silver coyotes, miniature pueblos, tin stars and brass jewelry...
...state draws on a source of legitimacy beyond parliamentary politics and popular will. The extra institutional support comes in handy in moments of crisis. With complicated and turbulent histories, during World War II Norway's King Haakon and the Netherlands' Queen Wilhelmina gave their occupied countries an additional symbol of resistance. In Spain the modern monarchy's services to the constitution have been more than symbolic. In 1981, when gun-toting, right-wing officers seized parliament and held it hostage, King Juan Carlos went on Spanish television in full uniform and used his royal prestige to rally the army around...
...next Romanov, should he get the job, must understand that he has been commissioned to reign, not rule. His usefulness to his country, and to the future of his family, depends on his being above politics -- a symbol, not an autocrat. The first post-Soviet parliament could audition all living Romanovs (of whom Grand Duke Vladimir, now living in France, is the most prominent) and pick the one who seems most amenable to these goals -- just as the English Parliament, in 1688, replaced a king it didn't trust (James II) with his daughter Mary and her Dutch husband William...
...court, he inspired his fellow players by actively engaging in public service, most importantly by raising millions for the United Negro College Fund. He was, in this age of cynicism and corrupted ideals, an untarnished symbol of the truly "good...
Militant gays seek power and protection by outing "closet" homosexuals; Afrocentrists, in extreme cases, speak of standard English as the "oppressor's language" advocating "culturally relevant curricula" in which the "home and community dialects" are recognized; Jewish extremists denounce the Christmas tree as a symbol of oppression and insensitivity. Segregated into these enclaves, the victimized (both real and constructed) not only contribute to a culture of separatism, but inadvertently play into the hands of those who would deny them any retribution or justice...