My friend Dee Marquart has made an interesting observation on her website. The War on Terrorism is a great all encompassing metaphor that has replaced the Cold War. The War on Terrorism is ubiquitous and pervasive. This is not a trite or banal observation, in my opinion.
If Dee is correct, and I think she is, that makes The War on Terrorism what I call a tent-pole metaphor. The tent-pole becomes central to all other metaphors. Policy, meaning and general perception are derived from tent-pole metaphors.
If you want to get something done from now on, or communicate an idea, you will need to think about how to fit it under the TWOT metaphor.
Example:Tom Friedman has a candidate idea -- the Patriot Gasoline Tax.