But here’s the point. It defies belief that the founders
intended to constrain recess appointments by using the word the
rather than a, or by using the word happen rather than exist. If
the founders had feared that the president would abuse the
recess appointments power in order to create a tyranny, they
would have made their intentions to constrain the president a
bit more explicit. This point has substantial rhetorical power.
Stated in the abstract, it does seem silly to imagine that
anything important could hang on the distinction between "the"
(the definite article) and "a" (the indefinite article).
Posner's argument suggests that the choice between "the" and "a"
is a mere technicality or pedantic insistence on a formal
communicative style. But as soon as you think about the way we
use these words in ordinary language, it becomes apparent that
quite a lot of meaning can be expressed via this simple
distinction. Some examples of the - "Be sure to cite a case for
that proposition." As opposed to "Be sure to