on the other hand

[Victor]

How common is the use of definite article with "on one hand"/"on one side"?

http://www.newmajority.com/ShowScroll.aspx?ID=d22fe4c9-6f8c-4c0d-93af-aed79ad3b467
_On the one side_, the president of the United States: soft-spoken and
conciliatory, never angry, always invoking the recession and its victims.

    VS-)

PS: The piece is worth reading in its own right, but not for linguistic
reasons.

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