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The new, old, and constantly changing language of politics is a lexicon of conflict and drama?ridicule and reproach?pleading and persuasion.

William Safire

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William Safire
Age: 79 †
Born: 1929
Born: December 17
Died: 2009
Died: September 27
Author
Columnist
Journalist
Writer
New York City
New York
William Lewis Safire
Language
Reproach
Persuasion
Ridicule
Changing
Constantly
Drama
Conflict
Lexicon
Politics
Pleading

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What a joy it is to see really professional media manipulation.
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In lieu of those checks and balances central to our legal system, non-citizens face an executive that is now investigator, prosecutor, judge, jury and jailer or executioner. In an Orwellian twist, Bush's order calls this Soviet-style abomination 'a full and fair trial.'
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I welcome new words, or old words used in new ways, provided the result is more precision, added color or greater expressiveness.
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Do not be taken in by 'insiderisms.' Fledgling columnists, eager to impress readers with their grasp of journalistic jargon, are drawn to such arcane spellings as 'lede.' Where they lede, do not follow.
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Previously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.
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Never feel guilty about reading, it's what you do to do your job.
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The CEO era gave rise to the CFO (not certified flying object, as you might imagine, but chief financial officer) and, most recently, the CIO, chief investment officer, a nice boost for the bookkeeper you can't afford to give a raise . . .
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To 'know your place' is a good idea in politics. That is not to say 'stay in your place' or 'hang on to your place', because ambition or boredom may dictate upward or downward mobility, but a sense of place - a feel for one's own position in the control room-is useful in gauging what you should try to do.
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I could get a better education interviewing John Steinbeck than talking to an English professor about novels.
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You don't want lopsided government. You don't want one side running roughshod over the other.
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I think we have a need to know what we do not need to know.
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English is a stretch language one size fits all.
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We are all environmentalists now, but we are not all planetists. An environmentalist realizes that nature has its pleasures and deserves respect. A planetist puts the earth ahead of the earthlings.
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Different regions may require different strategies, as President Bush has noted, but not different basic principles. It's either collective security or selective security.
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Adjective salad is delicious, with each element contributing its individual and unique flavor but a puree of adjective soup tastes yecchy.
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Create your own constituency of the infuriated.
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The most fun in breaking a rule is in knowing what rule you're breaking.
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This is what it's all about. From what I could see, you could get a bunch of people together, whip up the press and have some impact.
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Decide on some imperfect Somebody and you will win, because the truest truism in politics is: You can't beat Somebody with Nobody.
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Some handsome and ambitious men believe they are above all morality, and a woman's virtue becomes a mere challenge to them.
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