But the acting governor, Amos Barber, was caught up in local politics that made the boy's death a convenient symbol of law and order.

New York, however, is only a convenient symbol for what really bothers a lot of Americans about their country.

His interest lies in language, culture and identity; for him, the spy makes a convenient symbol for the American immigrant.

It was a convenient symbol for the evening, especially as the plane slowly sank into a bed of clouds.

But the overall deficit is a convenient symbol that grabs attention.

But I use the word 'madness' purely as a convenient symbol for the variation from the known human norm.

The gadfly has been transmuted into a convenient symbol of the American dream.

I was just a convenient symbol of what he hated or feared.

They are ugly, expensive and, with their smoke belching into the skies, present a convenient symbol for the degradation of the environment.

They also often serve as a convenient symbol of life in the south.