Word: alibis
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Germans accused of murdering Jews and other "enemies of the people" in cold blood during World War II invariably claimed that they were "only doing their duty and following orders." Many Americans who could not accept such an alibi then feel now that Galley's conviction is unjust. Fortunately, Galley's peers who convicted him did not have any such double standard...
Over the telephone, as well as in the courtroom, alibis often tend to fall apart. A phone call to the wife pleading late work at the office, for example, is less than convincing with the noisy hilarity of a swinging singles bar audible in the background. Similarly, the hospital-visit-to-an-ailing-aunt ploy is apt to prove a dud with a boss whose receiver is also picking up the strains of a jukebox or the cries of a ballpark hot dog vendor. To prevent such pretexts from collapsing, help is finally at hand: alibi tapes...
...self-justification that runs through the book. Kelman's theory of democratic pluralism says that any reform group must act by convincing a majority of the people it is right. But since his own YPSL has so obviously failed by those standards at Harvard, Kelman has to find an alibi. Maybe it's because all the kids, are crazy. Or maybe the press has conspired to squash YPSL. Kelman's reluctance to consider any other reason inspires visions of Lyndon Johnson, muttering down on the ranch about how all the people just never got a chance to understand...