Word: blundered
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...same reasons, the blunder is a peculiarly difficult one to repair. Disastrous policies can be reversed, subordinates who get a President in trouble can be replaced, and those who may have broken the law can be punished. What is not readily recoverable, once it has been lost, is trust. And Reagan has seriously, if unwittingly, strained the trust of allies, Congress and the American public in his Administration's credibility and competence. It is too early to say that his Presidency has been crippled, though that could happen if the dismaying pattern of new revelations and unconvincing explanations continues much...
THAT THE DEMOCRATS have not yet chosen to focus on the "ignorance factor" simply shows how out of touch they are with the reasons for Reagan's popularity. While bright, articulate liberals continue to write books that chronicle every blunder Reagan has ever made, the President remains untarnished. No one really cares that Reagan thinks that trees are the greatest cause of pollution or that he forgot that Pierre Trudeau was the prime minister of Canada. In fact, it could be argued that Reagan's image as a bumbling old geezer actually strengthens his popularity. It reinforces his image...
...more arrogant than ignorant, more a devious liar than a genial fool. As Christopher Hitchens pointed out in a recent issue of The Nation, when Reagan told Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir that he himself had liberated Jews from the Nazi death camps he was not simply making a blunder. Reagan never left the country during the War, and he knows it; it's hard to confuse Hollywood with Auschwitz. By the same token, when Reagan claimed he had received a message "from Pope John Paul urging us to continue our efforts in Central America," he was not confusing...
...also very important that this particular President begin anew his relationship with the Congress." Robert Dole, the Republican leader, suggests that Reagan should simply concede he made a mistake. Those suggestions, however, assume that Reagan is ready to admit that the arms sales to Iran were a blunder. And the President so far is one of the few people left in Washington who will not concede any such thing...
...geopolitical importance, it would have been irresponsible of the Americans not to do so. In diplomacy, especially in the Middle East, a country sometimes has to talk one way and act another. But to connive at arms sales to Iran, for whatever reason, seems clearly to have been a blunder that undermined U.S. credibility. It is hard to understand how the U.S. could have gained anything by strengthening Iran militarily. To permit arms sales that even appeared to be a payoff for the release of hostages was even worse, since seeming to reward terrorists is dangerous indeed. And by failing...